Fox Fighting behind the scenes
by ProtogirlT
Summary: Peace finally returns, or so it seems. Sophia, who was tied with the Mariemaia incident, is missing. Someone’s looking for her & Fox, but anyone who gets too close ends up dead. He knows she can construct gundams with systems similar to Wing Zero & Epyo
1. Meeting Fox

Gundam Wing Episode 1 *Meeting Fox* 6:00pm  
  
You hear the echoing of running feet in a dark alley under the artificial night sky of the colony. The feet stop as they reach the dead end of the alley. Three men of the four men in tuxedos produce guns as they look around. "Ok kid, come out! We know you're here."  
  
The kid hides conveniently inside a trash can. He stays perfectly still controlling his breathing taking in just enough to stay conscious since the smell of the garbage was starting to overwhelm him. He takes of his hat and covers his nose with it to stifle the smell. Why couldn't they have found me on garbage day? At least the cans would have been empty and to think I thought this was going to be a normal day.  
  
~~~~~ Flash ~~~~~  
  
"Hey, Teri!" Teri looks up after giving his last fish to the penguin. He has come into work late so he wasn't in his normal uniform of solid blue t- shirt and shorts.  
  
"James, now what?" He climbs out of the pen where James was waiting.  
  
"Mr. Sander wants you." James points to four guys in tuxedos. Teri walks over casually up to them, but with caution as he always did around new people. One of the men he recognized quickly stopping him in his tracks too late to turn back.  
  
"Where have you been all this time, Teri? Mr. Sander was just telling us what a good job you do here at the zoo." Teri takes a step back, but two guys grab his arms before he could get away. "I can't thank you enough for taking care of Teri for me."  
  
"Your welcome Mr.-"  
  
"Just call me Brian. I hate to be so formal."  
  
The guy on his right gets Teri's attention. "If you so much as breathe wrong kid I'll kill the old man." Giving in, they start for the exit passing a young man with shaggy dark brown hair. He looks up showing his motionless, Prussian blue eyes as one guy takes out some handcuffs and proceeds to handcuff Teri.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Shut up!" Teri dodges his punch to the face and knees him in the balls. He falls to the ground cringing in pain. His brother helps him. The last triplet picks Teri up so he couldn't run away. Teri's first reaction was to bite back. He lets go and Teri kicks him in the stomach then jumps on his back as the others try to catch him. Jumping off his back, he dashes away from them and they soon case after him.  
  
~~~~~ Flash ~~~~~  
  
Teri lifts the lid slowly just enough to see them arguing. As quickly as it stated it ceased as two gunshots shatter the angry hollers like glass. The triples leave quickly. After a while he, exits the trashcan and walks over to Brian's still body. Even though he knew, he was dead, he checks for a pulse anyway after putting his black hat on his head. He face grows motionless remembering how he betrayed him and begins to dig in his pockets.  
  
Finding his gun, he studies it before setting it down by his knee looking for more that could aid him besides the wallet he stuffed in his pocket. Without warning, the gun is placed to Fox's head. "Put your hands up and stand up slowly."  
  
Teri obeys but not after snatching the dead man's cell phone. He holds it up. "Do you want to call an ambulance or are you going to let this body rot here." There's a moment of silence.  
  
"Turn around." Doing as he says he turns recognizing the young man he had passed by at the zoo. He noticed that he was wearing a white T-shirt and some maroon kakis. Teri stands quietly as he calls for an ambulance. Surprisingly, it came in a few minutes. After turning Teri over to the police, he decides to tag along.  
  
He looks down at his Chinese slippers feeling uneasy then decides to brake the silence. "So. What's your name?"  
  
"My name is Heero Yuy," Heero says his voice monotone and expressionless, but dead serious. Teri looks at Heero with his walnut black eyes.  
  
"And yours?"  
  
"Just call me Fox; it's a nickname given to me by my friends." Just then, the police car stops and inside they separated them.  
  
A Chinese officer who looks around 16 walks up to Heero. He had short black hair and dark green eyes. "Hello my name is Officer Tembo and I'd like to thank you for bringing him in. he has the worst criminal record I've ever seen."  
  
"O you mind if I talk to him before I leave."  
  
"Sure, just follow me." Heero follows him to a door. He turns the knob. "He should in this room." Opening the door to his horror are three knocked out officers on the floor. Officer Tembo quickly goes to the one that stirs. "What happened?" Helping his fellow officer up, Heero walks in noticing one of the ceiling tiles was out of place as the door automatically closes behind him.  
  
"I don't know. The kid just went crazy when we tried to take a fingerprint."  
  
"Where does that vent lead to?" Both officers look as him confused at his sudden interest in the vent.  
  
"It leads to the bathrooms."  
  
"Where are the bathrooms?"  
  
"Just take a left, but why?" Heero runs to the door throwing it open.  
  
"OOW!" He stops when he hears the familiar voice behind him. He turns to see Fox holding his nose. His hat falls to the floor exposing his long jet back braid that stops at his thighs. Fox quickly picks up his hat. "You shouldn't open doors so quickly. You can really hurt someone!" He looks up to see Heero. "Oh, it's you." He shrugs as a few officers turn the corner.  
  
"There he is!" Fox smiles and does three back flips. The last one lands him on a desk, but he slips on a piece of paper and falls backward in a roller chair. Fox pushes away from the desk dodging one of the officers and plowing into the other with the chair. Rolling off the chair, he leaves them to slam into the nearest wall.  
  
He dashes for the exit. An officer walks in from a lunch brake. "Catch him!" Fox skids to a stop as he leaps at him. Fox moves to his left dodging it. At the last second, he jumps on the officer's back. Jumping off, he leaps through the glass above the door and lands perfectly on the stair rail in front of the building. After sliding down it, he disappears in the night.  
  
Officer Tembo emerges furious form the station and walk to his car as the triplets Fox escaped from earlier walk up behind him. "What do we do now?"  
  
Officer Tembo leans on his car without looking at them. "Eliminate him. We'll find the girl another way." Heero stands behind a nearby tree listening then leaves soon after they do.  
  
0_- A golden brown haired woman leans back in her seat after putting the ship on autopilot. "Everything checks out ok." As usual, sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. She checks her watch as a young Chinese man with black hair and eyes walks in. She looks up at her partner. Now I remember. "It's almost time for our break." He sits down next to her. "Is there any place in general you want to eat?"  
  
"Doesn't matter to me" he glances over at her. From the looks of her, you couldn't guess she was part Chinese herself. The shape of her blues eyes is the only clear indication.  
  
There's a pause as she turns her head to look out the windshield of the ship. She listens to the steady hum of the ship before answering. "So you won't mine if I make lunch."  
  
"As long as it's better then yesterday's." The computer screen blipped.  
  
"Wait and what's that suppose-"  
  
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." A brown-eyed woman with hair to match cuts her off. "Because I have a search and rescue mission for you." A picture of a girl with long jet-black hair down to her thighs and walnut black eyes wearing a Chinese Ceremonial robe with Mariemaia Barton appears on the screen.  
  
He looks at the picture surprised. She hasn't changed much, but why would she need rescuing.  
  
I remember her. "She was one of the prisoners I helped escape from colony X18999. She decided to stay with Mariemaia, Lady Une." But, Sophia isn't a Chinese name.  
  
"Yes, her name is Sophia Dragon, and for some reason she has disappeared after she went to visit her uncles. The only clue we have is that she promised to show up at Mariemaia's birthday party."  
  
"She's partly American." He replies suddenly as though she asked her question aloud. "We might as well get started."  
  
"I'll send you information if I find out any more. Sally, Wufei I wish you good luck." The screen goes black leaving the two to start their work.  
  
"It's obvious you, know her."  
  
"We grew up together, but she hardly ever talked. She was the stepsister of my wife, Mei Lan."  
  
:-I Fox cleared the police station with Heero not far behind. Then, Fox turned into a long narrow walkway between two buildings. Next, he spread his legs, one for each wall, apart and proceeds hops up the buildings. Looking down, Heero and Fox make eye contact for a second before he reaches the top and disappears atop one of the two builds.  
  
It didn't take long for all that running made him hungry so he enters a store now being around five in the morning. He grabs what looks appetizing. Fox hands the casher the money. Happily, he leaves the store. Uh, oh! He notices Heero quickly begins to stuff his face. Fox wolfed down half of the assorted donuts when they locked eyes. After stuffing the rest in his pocket, he took off running. The chase was on once again.  
  
Running to the end of the street took them to a public park. Because it was still early for most people, the park was almost completely empty of people. Fox does a sidekick, but Heero grabs Fox's leg and trips him. "Why are you still following me?" Fox sits up and looks up at him annoyed.  
  
"You know why he was killed, who killed him, and why they're after you. I want some answers, and I'm going to get them one way or another." Fox finally gets to his feet.  
  
What is he Batman? "It looks like you're going to have to find your answers another way." Fox gives a familiar smirk. Without warning, he does a jump kick and hits Heero under his chin in an upward position. Just as fast as the first kick he does a spin kicking Heero on the side of his face knocking him to the ground. When Heero gets to his feet, Fox had disappeared once again.  
  
*_* I can't believe the swarms of police that were around all last night. It is best to leave and come back when this whole thing blows over. The circus manager sighs and looks at his watch. It is nearly one in the afternoon when he sights Fox running toward him. Oh no "What do you want this time?"  
  
Fox stops a little way in front of him. "So?"  
  
"So. what?"  
  
"Have you thought about my working for you or are you still thinking about it." He begins to walk away, but Fox follows like a puppy to its owner. They pass a young man with mustard brown hair and bright, dark green who was listening silently as they pasted him.  
  
"Sorry, kid business has been slow so I can't afford to hire anyone at this time." Suddenly he makes a face as Fox comes closer. "Get away kid you smell."  
  
Fox blushes embarrassed knowing he didn't have time to take a bath before he came. "Sorry, I um. had a rough night, but you can use the extra help, am I right." Both stop in front of the elephants. The manager thinks for a moment.  
  
"Sorry, kid, can't do it."  
  
Fox clasps his hands together in front of his head and bows his head slightly in a praying position. "Then will you be so kind as to give me a ride to the next colony?"  
  
"This is a circus not a taxi!"  
  
"Well, I think we could use the extra help." A woman in her early twenties with blue eyes and brown eyes came from behind the elephants. Fox looks up when he hears her soft voice.  
  
"Now don't you start Catherine?"  
  
"Fox why don't you go feed the cats, ok." She pushes him gently towards the tent. He takes one last look back before running towards the tent. "Since when do you ride off kids before giving them a chance?"  
  
"I don't need any more kids like that around. They're too much trouble."  
  
"You mean more kids like Trowa." Catherine walks off leaving his to think about what she said, but all he does is shrug and goes to his trailer.  
  
The hungry lion ripped greedily at the raw meat. Fox watches from a short distance as he fed the other cats. After finishing, he goes to the corner of the tent and picks up a black book bag with a green dragon on the front that he had left earlier. He walks outside and walks toward a familiar trailer, but hides when he hears a familiar voice. Heero comes out of the trailer talking to the man with mustard brown hair and bright, dark green from before. What! No way, he followed me here!  
  
When Heero finally left, the man went back in his trailer. Fox moves out from behind the trailer. Catherine opens the door nearly hitting Fox in the face. "Oh, Fox is something wrong?"  
  
"No, no, I just came to return the book I borrowed." He hands her the book.  
  
She feels the book in her hand as though thinking a moment. "Thanks would you like to come in?"  
  
It's better to just leave before that guy comes back. "No, I can manage."  
  
"Nonsense, I made dinner for three and it turns out our guest didn't stay." Catherine hops down now face to face with Fox. "Come, I don't want my food to go to waste and I know you're hungry." She starts pulling Fox up the step.  
  
Crap, she has that look. Fox's stomach growls betraying him as Catherine practical drags him inside. "I guess I am a little hungry." He looks down embarrassed. Catherine hands him some towels, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.  
  
"What are these for?" Fox looks at Catherine as she takes his bag. "I thought we were going to eat?"  
  
"I'm not going to feed you until you're thoroughly clean." She pushes Fox in the bathroom and closes the door after she put his book bag down inside first. "Don't take long either."  
  
"Wasn't a little harsh saying he needed a bath," Trowa says standing in the doorway.  
  
"He actually smelled like garbage. That really makes me worry about what he does and being an orphan he doesn't stay in one place too long." Catherine tends to the food. Trowa looks at the closed bathroom door.  
  
"You know, he reminds me of you, when you first came Trowa, only Fox is polite and shy around people, unless he knows you." She hands Trowa a bowl of soup before Fox came out of the bathroom in a Chinese training uniform that Trowa has seen Wufei wear before. Unfortunately, Fox still had a towel on his head making him about two feet taller.  
  
Trowa and Fox make eye contact. Something tells me I'm going to have some trouble with this one here. "It takes a while for my hair to dry. You know that, Cathy." He turns his gaze from Trowa. Catherine puts two more bowls on the table and laughs. "I know I look like a cone head, but it's not that funny."  
  
"Ok I'm sorry. Go on and eat." Fox starts on the food noticing Trowa had not talked since he entered the trailer. I wonder what his relationship is with that Heero character is. Fox's staring catches Trowa's gaze. Fox looks down into his soup eating slightly faster.  
  
"What have you been up to lately?"  
  
"Hum." Fox looks up at her a second sliding his spoon out of his mouth slowly. He looks up at the ceiling a moment. "Ummm, I worked at the zoo a while." He watches the soup spin as he stirs what was left of it with his spoon. "I pretty mush took jobs that involved engineering and animals. you know."  
  
Is he the one Heero was talking about? I wonder. Trowa goes back to eating watching him for the corner of his eye.  
  
"So, that's why you want a job here."  
  
"Well. yeah and besides all the animals here I know, but I'll just spend the night and leave in the morning."  
  
"We're actually leaving tomorrow."  
  
Fox fakes a look of surprise. "Really, how come?" Catherine takes his bowl, but fox stops her. "Cathy, can I have another bowl?"  
  
"Sure, as long as you do the dishes afterward."  
  
Hearing this he puts his head on the table wrapping his arms around his head. "I knew there was a catch." The towel around Fox's head unwraps and falls flat." Great He stands up. "Never mind I have some web surfing to do and thank you for the meal." He bows and grabbing his book bag out the bathroom, he goes in the living room part of the trailer.  
  
After Trowa helped Catherine with the dishes, she goes in and checks on Fox. She walks up to him on the couch only to find that he had fallen asleep. His laptop was open in front of his face as he slept peacefully on his side. Catherine kneels down beside him closing his laptop. "Fox come on- "  
  
"It's ok Cathy, he can sleep here."  
  
"Are you sure? I don't want to put this burden on you." She hesitates a moment before getting up. She looks at him finally giving in. "Ok then, but he causes you any trouble, Trowa. Just call me." Trowa sees her out. 


	2. Aggressive Adversaries

Gundam Wing Episode 2 *Aggressive Adversaries* 10:50pm  
  
Wufei and Sally enter a motel after questions they asked brought them there. Very fortunate to get some answers so soon, they get the keys to Sophia's old room. Sally opens the door and turns on the light. "It doesn't look like she left much." The room was nearly spotless. "It doesn't even look like she even used this room."  
  
"She's what Americans call a neat freak." They walk around and start to dig though everything looking for any clue about Sophia's whereabouts. The owner didn't see it necessary to clean it.  
  
"I can see that." Sally begins looking in the between the matrices of the bed.  
  
She did leave a clue. Wufei picks up a piece of paper after searching a drawer he was digging through. "The circus"  
  
Sally looks up as he says it a little confused at his sudden out burst. "The circus won't be here until tomorrow evening."  
  
"We'll have to contact Trowa. The problem is convincing her that we are here to help her. It takes a lot to change her mind on something." She's probable still hasn't forgiven me, yet.  
  
"It's not your fault; you felt needed there." Wufei looks up at his partner. She walks over and wraps her arms around his neck. "She can't be as bad as you were."  
  
@_! A set of triplets enter a dark room with only the light of a lamp on a desk that didn't admit much light. Behind the desk, is a chair facing the window? The only sound is the squeaking of the chair as it swings back and forth like chimes in the wind. "Where's the kid?"  
  
"Sorry sir, but we haven't had any progress with him."  
  
"I'm disappointed in you Jeff. You Hyena Brothers hardly make any mistakes." The voice is calm, soft, but serious.  
  
"Fox just won't stay caught." The chair stops swaying like someone who presses down on the break petal of a car.  
  
"Forget about Fox and find the girl." The voice is slightly annoyed this time. "He's the only one left out of that a cursed Predator group. Find Sophia at all casts."  
  
"Yes, sir" The Hyena Brothers say in unison.  
  
"By the way, what ever happened to Brian?"  
  
"He was eliminated." The chair starts swaying again.  
  
"I see . . . Oh and one more thing. If you see Fox and he gets in your way." The chair turns around, but most of his face is still covered. "Kill him."  
  
o _o The shuttle had just departed from one of the L1 colonies and heads for the Colony L2 cluster an few hours ago. The circus team rests in one of the two hangers that they attached to the shuttle for safe passage to the next colony. One hanger held the animals and tent trucks while the other held the trailers of the circus crew. Fox opens his eyes slowly realizing he had fallen asleep. Opening his laptop, he checks the time.  
  
"Ten hours and fifty minutes. They should have left by now." Fox slowly gets up with his laptop and shoes now on he opens a window. After confirming the coast was clear he slides though it and heads for the animal hanger. He hears Trowa's voice, but decides he had more important things to do then ease drop. Fox now in the animal hanger stops by the big cat cages.  
  
He watches them a moment before opening his laptop and connects a headset to it after pressing a few buttons. "Hyperactive Tiger come it." He does this over a course of five minutes. "Tiger come on; where are you?" Frustrated and upset he throws it down. I know she hasn't been at her post for two months. Damn it, Tiger not you too.  
  
He closes he's eyes the tears escaping from the sides. Fox flings his head back and shouts at the top of his lungs as some of the tears float in the air. The roaring of the big cats drowned out his howl as though sharing his sorrow.  
  
Now, I really am alone. Fox's face turns serious. Time to get back to work. Wiping away the tears from his face, he stands up. He sighs as the realization of his duty now heavy on his mind. "It's all up to me, so I guess I am leaving and sooner then expected. Time for operation robot"  
  
Fox exits after watching the animals slightly longer leaving the hanger heading quickly to the trailer. He climbs though the open window and pokes his head into the living room. Seeing that the coast was clear, he cautiously enters and jumps on the couch after kicking off his shoes. Fox going back to his laptop opens a few files. He looks at them before choosing one and closing the others. Printing out the one, he chose he carefully places into an envelope and sticks it into his book bag.  
  
Fox jumps up, quickly slips on his shoes, grabs his book bag, and goes into the kitchen then opens the window. With his laptop in hand, he slides slowly out and carefully selects a suitable foothold. "It's easier to use the door." The sound of Trowa's voice made Fox jump losing his foothold and his grip on his laptop. Fox fell backwards while his laptop went forward in to the sink.  
  
Six hours has passed since they landed safely to their destination. The crew starts putting up the tents. Trowa notices something in the elephant van while he's passing by. He begins to unlock the van to check it out when Catherine calls. "Trowa, we need your help to put up this tent!" He gives one last look inside before leaving. He meets up with Heero on the way who tagged along the entire trip.  
  
The back door of the van door opens slowly. Seeing no one around Fox jumps down and closes the door as an elephant's trunk slides out of the barred door. "I'll see you later Precious," Fox whispers to the elephant as he moves swiftly to Trowa's trailer. He clears the workers no problem and hops in the trailer. Now I can get my laptop and leave. I just hope they didn't hack into my system.  
  
"I knew you'd be back." Startled, Fox turns to face Trowa. "So it was really you in the elephant van."  
  
Fox stuffs the laptop in his book bag and as he walks past Trowa. "If you follow me I won't hesitate to fight you." Heero steps in front of him as he walks out the door. "You're not going to stop are you?" Fox looks at him annoyed. "You can tell your friend here to leave me alone as well or I'll use a different kind of force next time." He nudges past Heero.  
  
"Fox, how did you get here so fast?" Catherine asks suspiciously.  
  
Damn it Cathy! "Um, I'd like to say thanks for the hospitality and any I have to leave before I cause you any more trouble." Fox looks at Heero and Trowa as he says it. Catherine looks at Trowa then back at Fox confused.  
  
"What do you mean cause you anymore trouble; Fox, who told you that, huh?"  
  
"I don't want anyone getting in trouble because of me!" Fox backs up from Catherine.  
  
"What do you mean, Fox, are you in some kind of trouble?" she asks as he backs up even further.  
  
Fox looks at them and smirks. "You should see the look on all your faces! I've just overstayed my welcome anyway. You know I don't stay too long in one place."  
  
Catherine doesn't buy the fake smile. "Fox, I've known when you're lying to me."  
  
Fox notices three figures move towards the tent. No! They couldn't have followed me here. "I don't want . . . I don't want you to get involved." Fox breaks away from Catherine's grip and runs toward the big tent.  
  
"Fox stop! Don't run away!" Fox stops and turns to face Catherine. His eye right twitches as if fighting himself then continues running toward the main tent with Heero, Trowa, and Catherine running after him. Inside they stop running.  
  
"Fox! Come out; tell me what's wrong! We can help you!" Trowa from backstage notices someone on the high wire podium and walks toward it. As Heero follows Trowa, they both see that its Fox curled up in a ball on the podium. Trowa and Heero climb opposite sides.  
  
"It would be easier if you just told us instead of running all the time."  
  
"My job is so dangerous that my father is dead. One mistake and you're gone. I don't need hostages or people getting killed because of me. is that enough information for you!"? Fox growls angrily his face stone cold and unchanging.  
  
"You mean Catherine, right."  
  
". . . She reminds me of my older stepsister I lost. She married a boy who was my uncle's student during the war." Fox stops embarrassed then stands up shaking his head as though to shake away what he had just told him. "I don't even know why I'm even talking to you." Trowa blocks his way to get down. "Why do you people keep doing this? Fine, I'll play your little game!"  
  
"I'm doing this for Catherine." Fox ignores Trowa and jumps on the high wire. Seeing Heero on the other side, Fox now knew he's trapped. Now they begin to close in on Fox.  
  
"You two will never quite will you?" Fox smiles, now directly in the center, he was ready to fight. Suddenly, a gun goes off and a bullet flies past Fox's head grazing the side. As they look down, they see two identical men in black tuxedos. All man, not now.  
  
"It's hunting season, Fox! You better start running Fox because the dogs are coming after, Yah!" They both raise there guns and start shooting. A bullet hits the wire. As it breaks, they fall begin to fall about 20-25 feet in the air. Heero seizes the trapeze on the way down. Fox grabs the other trapeze snagging Trowa's arm as he passes.  
  
It turned out to be harder than Fox thought as Trowa's weight dragged Fox down until the only thing keeping him from falling was his feet crossed over the trapeze bar. "You're. too heavy, Trowa. I can't pull you up." I knew I should have worked out more. "Hey, don't get any ideas. The only reason I am saving you is because Catherine wouldn't forgive me if I let you fall, on purpose."  
  
"Nice trapeze act, Kid! Tell us where you've hidden the girl and we'll leave your friends alone and maybe spare your life."  
  
Catherine comes running when she sees their predicament. "Fox! Trowa! Hold On!"  
  
"Hold it right there, sister; you're not helping anyone." Black Tux2 points his gun at Catherine. Fox starts swinging back and forth.  
  
"Let's have some target practice before we get down to business." Black Tux1 watches them swing back and forth aiming at Fox and Trowa who are now swinging steadily back and forth in rhythm with Heero. Fox tosses Trowa to Heero as the gun goes off. As Fox swings back, two bullets hit and break the trapeze ropes and he goes flying.  
  
"NO!!!" Catherine watches in horror as Fox flies dangerously close one of the high wire beams. His back slams upside down into the pole and slides down headfirst. Fox grabs hold of one of the steps of the ladder he used earlier to climb up, but his body does a flip and he hit the pole again face first with a thud. Now in even more pain, Fox quickly finds a foothold, but when a shoot grazes his arm, he lets go and falls, again, this time he's stopped by the ground and lies still.  
  
As Heero and Trowa make it down, Black Tux2 has them at gunpoint. "Sorry guys, but we need to have a word with him. That's if he's still alive." The last triplet walks in this one wearing a blue tuxedo. "Hey, Jeff the kid's over there."  
  
Jeff walks past his brothers. He kneels beside Fox as he coughs up some blood and slightly opens his eyes. "Well, well so you are still alive. I never thought I'd see a fallen, Fox." He grabs his hair and pulls him to his feet. "Tell me where she is, NOW!"  
  
Fox coughs again causing a trickle of blood to run down his mouth. He just gives a weak smile. "You still can't find her? I guess her disguise works better than I thought. She's in plain sight."  
  
Jeff angrily throws Fox down by yanking his hair down. "Tell me where she is! I'm tired of playing games with you!"  
  
"You haven't said please." Fox closes his eyes as he says it. Jeff kicks Fox in the ribs out of frustration.  
  
"So, she could be in this room." He looks at Catherine. "Hey Kim, bring that girl to me! Min, if either of them move, kill them." As Kim brings Catherine over Heero kicks the gun from Min's hand while he was checking out Catherine. Trowa catches it and shoots Kim in the arm and he hits the ground in pain.  
  
Kim drops his gun and falls to the floor in pain. Heero runs over and grabs his gun as Catherine runs to Fox to make sure he was, ok. Jeff pulls out his gun and points it at Catherine as Fox opens his eyes and he painfully stands up shielding her from his gun. "Fox, don't do this."  
  
Jeff was surprised at first to see Fox up and then laughs. "And what are you going to do, kid. Where's your weapon?"  
  
"Right here" Fox reaches over his head to his back and pulls out a sword. "I have chosen my weapon."  
  
He laughs even harder. "A sword against a gun; okay, now I've seen everything and I thought you had a grenade or a bomb."  
  
"Don't under estimate me!" Fox dives for him. Surprised, he moves back, but with a quick slash the hand that held the gun fell to the ground with blood gushing endlessly like running water and he starts to scream hysterically. Catherine looks away in disgust.  
  
Heero goes to call an ambulance when Fox falls to his knees using his sword to hold him up with one hand on the ground. "Fox, how did you get mixed up with them?" Catherine holds Fox now instead of his sword.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, Cathy." Fox looks away from Catherine's face and throws up some of it dark red.  
  
Wufei and Sally walk up to the circus grounds to see police and two ambulances. What happened here? Sally wonders as she walks in the tent with Wufei.  
  
"What happened?" Wufei asks Trowa and Heero as they walk toward them.  
  
"We were attacked by three men almost getting a chance to get answers from someone who won't cooperate with us. The men said he was hiding a girl from them."  
  
"By any chance did they say the girls name was Sophia Dragon, Heero?" Heero shakes his head no, as Catherine reads something.  
  
"Try and get some information from him and call us if you get. We'll question the men that attacked you to see if we can get any leads." Catherine finally reaches; her expression filled with worried.  
  
"He ran away." Catherine's eyes turn glassy as they all look at her. "Trowa, I want you to find Fox for me and make sure he's ok."  
  
"Don't worry Catherine I'll find him."  
  
Dear Catherine, The incident that happened today is what I was afraid would happen, so I decided. Hey, it's time for me to go. It's not your fault so don't go blaming yourself for my decision. I promise I'll return someday, but not any time soon of course. This is for your safety along with everyone in the circus. Don't try to follow me.  
  
Fox P.S. When this whole thing blows over, I'll bring you something to express my apology, and if you never see me again you're the best substitute mom I ever had. Thanks for understanding.  
  
#_# Four hours later since that stupid circus incident, I hope Catherine is ok about this. Fox sighs feeling dizzy as he walks up the steps to a small house painfully and exhorted. He rings the doorbell, but no one answers. Fox swings around the back and with the key on the roof sneaks in. Looks like everyone is asleep. Fox turns on the lamp near the couch after going trough the kitchen. After taking off his book bag, shoes, and turns off the lamp, he lies on the couch and instantly falls asleep when his head hits the hand rest. 


	3. A Memory Unforgotten

Gundam Wing Episode 3 *Memories Unforgotten* 7:00am  
  
A tile moves from its place in the ceiling and a person wearing a black cloak jumps down from it. After putting the tile back in place, a young teenage girl with black eyes with long jet-black hair to her thighs shows her face under the hood. She quickly ducks into a room when she hears footsteps as a soldier wearing a uniform goes and knocks on the door in which the girl went in.  
  
She opens the door and follows him in a similar uniform. They pass a series of doors until they reach two enormous doors and walk in. The girl immediately sits at the long table, as well as two other soldiers stand by the door. A little girl around twelve years old with bright red hair and blue eyes sits across from her. Sitting next to the little girl is an old man, probably her grandfather.  
  
"I'm sorry I missed the meeting." She answers little too quickly giving some slight suspicion. "But I wasn't feeling too good this morning."  
  
"It's quite all right, Sophia, but you've missed a lot of meetings lately." A maid comes in and with tea and leaves after everyone receives a cup. "We need your help to build some extra mobil suits, but we can never seem to find you, Sophia." The old man looks at Sophia hard the suspicion heavy in his voice. "You'll help Mariemaia rule earth . . . won't you?"  
  
Sophia looks at her tea for a second then looks up at him. "I promise to serve her only if she becomes queen. No sooner!" Sophia stars sternly at him. "I prefer to be neutral on this part and I always keep my promises." Mariemaia takes a sip of her tea listening carefully.  
  
"I'm losing my patience with you! Are you going to help or not?" He slams his palms on the table yelling at a not too impressed Sophia.  
  
"It's ok Dekim." Mariemaia tries to calm him. "I know for a fact that she always keeps her promises, but Sophia; why do you say 'if' I become queen?'"  
  
"You shouldn't count out the Gundam pilots, Mariemaia; they can still blow this for you." Sophia looks Mariemaia straight in the eyes. "When you kidnapped Relena, you can be sure you got their attention. Don't be so confident; it will be your down fall . . . and I still think ruling the world is an immense burden to put on a child's shoulders."  
  
"I'm glad to see that you are worried about me, but I have Dekim to help me." She smiles then starts to sip her tea again.  
  
That's what I'm afraid of. Sophia glares straight at Dekim taking sips of her tea.  
  
"A shame really, I was hoping you'd help Wufei with being my bodyguard."  
  
"How did you get Wufei in this?" Sophia stands in surprise.  
  
"Why he's the reason why we found you in the first place, Sophia Dragon!" Dekim smiles standing up. "And thank you for the advice about the pilots. You were very helpful"  
  
Suddenly someone gets Sophia into a chokehold. "You said you'd only serve me if I were queen so at this moment, you can't be trusted." Mariemaia laughs. "Now, don't be too rough on her."  
  
"This will go a lot easier if you actually swallowed the tea." That voice sounds familiar. Wufei? The four other soldiers in the room go over to help restrain her. As they come closer Sophia, spit's tea in one of the solder's face closest to her then manages to throw Wufei over her shoulder. He does a flip then landing back on his feet then charges her.  
  
"Wufei! Stop this! Since when do you attack friends?" Sophia blocks a few punches and kicks.  
  
Wufei takes out his sword. "If you're not going to help Mariemaia, you are an enemy!" He brings the blade down to her right, left, straight down the middle, and then straight across. Sophia's able to dodge all four, but barely manages to dodge the last one.  
  
"Wufei stop this! This is wrong and you know it!" Sophia dodges another blow of the sword.  
  
"I'm fighting for what I believe in." He comes closer his eyes showing only the determination of catching her. "Are you?" The sword comes down on the side of her face so she kicks the sword out of his hand. It goes flying hitting the wall beside her barley missing a soldier's head.  
  
Sophia then kicks Wufei in the face causing him to back up as a long red gash bleeds freely. She stands up, but loses her balance and grabs the tablecloth by accident and falls taking the tablecloth and a few dishes with her. As Wufei comes closer, she slides away from him. "You've changed." Sophia shakes her head in disbelief and fear.  
  
She turns suddenly and bolts from the room. As Wufei begins to fallow her, Mariemaia stops him for a second. "Be gentle with her. It takes some people a while to realize my rule is imminent. She'll come around sooner or later." Wufei bows and takes off after Sophia.  
  
Sophia makes it back to her room, but she could hardly stand up so she leans on the door. I must have swallowed more than I thought . . . I have to make it out of here and worn the other pilots. She opens the door, nearly falling to the floor. Getting to her laptop, she sends a message, then opens her drawer and grabs her sword, and with the last of her strength, Sophia turns and plunges her sword at Wufei, but he grabs her wrist in midair. She drops the sword and collapses to her knees. He picks her up. "Why . . . why are you doing this? This isn't like you. Tell me, Wufei!" Sophia chokes out before passing out grabbing hold of his shirt. "Wufei!"  
  
&_& Wufei wakes up in a car seat when he hears his name called. "Wufei, if you were tired I could have stayed at that motel for some rest."  
  
"I'm Fine" He looks out the window. Sally glances at him a moment before turning back to the road.  
  
She sighs as he turns his head to looks out the windshield. His expression looked slightly miserable. "You've. had a lot on your mind since, we started." She stops at a light. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"It's better if you talk about it."  
  
"Hum." He looks at Sally for a moment then goes back to what he was doing before. She makes a right knowing she wasn't going to get anything else from him.  
  
"You're only human; it's ok to make wrong choices, Wufei. as long as we learn from our mistakes." Wufei crosses his arms and looks down thinking over what she said as Sally stops the car at a house. "That's what makes us stronger." Wufei looks at her and gives her a smile before getting out.  
  
Z_z Fox wakes up in a hospital bed as Hilde hugs him. "How-did. I get here?" Fox looks up at the ceiling confused. He glances over to see a purple-eyed dark gray haired young woman.  
  
"We found you with a gun shot wound in your chest. We rushed you to the hospital. They said you had internal bleeding and wouldn't make it through the night. You were in a coma for three days."  
  
"Well I guess I showed them." Fox looks around examining his room's plain white walls. The only thing that brought color to the room was a black clock on the wall.  
  
"Were you fighting again, Fox?" Fox sighs and looks at his friend. She knew he could only get wounds like that unless he was in a fight or two.  
  
"Why do you ask questions you know the answer to?" Fox gets out of bed looking at his hospital clothes. "You stayed with me while I was unconscious?"  
  
She ignores his question. "Are you sure you should be getting out of bed so soon?"  
  
"I just want to walk around a little, get out of this hospital, and these . . . clothes that is if you can call them clothes." Fox walks into the bathroom and as he shuts the door, a young man with Cobalt blue eyes and long brown hair a yard long walks in.  
  
"So, your friend is finally awake, huh." he surveys the empty bed.  
  
"Fox hasn't changed one bit." She smiles slight happy her friend's ok, but worries he got up a little to fast.  
  
The toilet flushes and Fox comes out dressed in a Chinese training uniform, "Thanks for putting my book bag in the W.C., Hilde."  
  
"Fox, this is Duo"  
  
"This is Duo?" Fox says looking him over. Did he steal my hairstyle or did he always have his hair like that. "Why didn't you tell me you had a boy friend, Hilde?" Hilde and Duo both look at each other then back at Fox then blush at the comment.  
  
"Duo and I broke up by that doesn't mean we're not still good friends." Hilda watches Fox puts on his book bag. I just hope he doesn't get the wrong idea about Duo.  
  
So they broke up; I wonder who broke it off. Fox looks at Duo as he thinks this. "Come on, lets get something to eat." He leaves the room. After breakfast, they went home, and Fox took his time recuperating doing odd jobs around the house, but Duo and Fox didn't exactly get along, mostly due to the personality differences. 


	4. An Immature Fox

Gundam Wing Episode 4 *An Immature Fox* 8:00am  
  
Hilde walks into the living room hoping to find Fox awake, but she was disappointed. She opens the window letting the light shine in his eyes. "Fox come on wake up." Hilde shakes him awake.  
  
"Can't I wake up at ten, Hilde?" Fox mumbles something else as he places the pillow over his head. Hilde pulls the pillow off his head but he manages to get a hold of it with his teeth when Duo walks in.  
  
"Fox, come on it's eight, wake up!" She pulls the pillow to get it away from him, but he had a decent grip on it.  
  
"Come on give me at least one more hour." Fox says though clinched teeth. If you only knew how long I was up last night, you'd leave me alone right now.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Thirty minutes!"  
  
"Nooo!"  
  
"Fifteen!"  
  
"Oh! Fox, you're impossible!"  
  
"I thought foxes acted like to cats, not dogs." Duo knowing he got Fox's attention stands their watching. Fox glares at him. "Hey don't look at me you're the one who's acting like a rabid dog." Fox lets go of the pillow and leaves the room, but not before giving him a dirty look.  
  
Hilde makes sure Fox wasn't ease dropping. "Thanks Duo, you're the only one who can get him up, but did you have to be so mean. It's not good to get Fox angry." "Don't worry Fox will be ok, I won't hurt him too much," Duo says playfully, "Besides I can take care of myself."  
  
"You won't be saying that when Fox takes out her sword." Hilde leaves the room.  
  
Duo watches Hilde leave. Wait a minute; what does she mean by that? "Sword?"  
  
:P "Swords? Yes she did have a fascination with swords." An old man rocks back and forth in a rocking chair. "She was always sweet, never smiled or even talked much for that matter, but she smiled for the first time when I gave her my Cobra sword."  
  
"Do you know where she went?" Sally relieved to find someone who actually encountered Sophia.  
  
"She said something about visiting a friend on this colony for a while." Wufei looks up at from the display case of swords and walks over.  
  
"How log did she say she was going to stay."  
  
"For about three weeks." The old man stops rocking. "Is she in some kind of trouble?"  
  
"I'm afraid she is." Sally comes closer to him. "We need to know everything you might know that can help."  
  
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Kim enters from the back room with a gun in his hand aimed at the old man. "Put your hands up and I won't shoot grandpa. Now Fox, tell me where the girl is and I won't kill you."  
  
Sally looks over at Wufei who was just as surprised as she was. "I think you have the wrong person."  
  
"Don't try and trick me, lady! I know Fox when I see him." Sally and Wufei look at each other confused. "Tell me where she is now or did you finally ditch her . . . I don't have all day! Tell me or he dies!" Before an answer could be given, he pulls the trigger and the side of the old man's head gets blown off, but the bullet doesn't stop and it hits the wall next to Sally. The lifeless body falls to the floor and lies in a continuous flow of dark red blood as Sally closes her eyes for a moment. "Your friend is next if you don't tell me."  
  
He points the gun at Sally. As, what seemed to be an endless pool of dark red blood reaches her feet Sally moves to one side just missing another bullet. Suddenly, Min walks into the room; upon seeing the dead body, he turns green. "I thought I said no shooting people until we actually get answers. Mom always said you were trigger happy." He turns somewhat greener.  
  
"He's going to pay for cutting off Jeff's hand and I'm going to make sure he does."  
  
His brother looks at Wufei carefully. "You idiot, that's not Fox!"  
  
"What do you mean that's not Fox? Look at him!"  
  
"Fox has long, black hair not short," Kim gets his color back as he argues with his brother. "Now kill them both since we're all looking for the same person. We can't have any competition. Now we need another source since you killed ours!"  
  
Angry with his triplet he leaves the room as Min points the gun at Wufei and fires. As the bullet penetrates his chest near his heart, his body resists it and his body falls to the floor with a sickening thud.  
  
"Wufei, NO!" Sophia appears unexpectedly alone in the room as it goes black.  
  
"You're next." He points the gun at Sophia and fires.  
  
"Noooo!" Sophia screams as the bullet flies for her head, then wakes up on the floor in a cold sweat breathing heavily. Hilde runs into the room.  
  
"Sophia, what's wrong? I heard you scream." Hilde looks at her friend worried as she helps her to her feet and walks her to the kitchen.  
  
"I'm . . . I'm fine, just had a bad vision, that's all." Sophia breaths heavily as she sits down at the table. "I have to leave before I get you involved in this, as well Hilde . . . They're close so I can't stay more than a few more days. I won't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you; my best friend."  
  
"I've noticed that you haven't been getting enough sleep lately." Hilde looks Sophia straight in the eye. "You've been working on something again, haven't you?"  
  
"Maybe. I guess you can say that. . . I think I might leave tonight, after all."  
  
"At least stay three more days before leaving ok." Hilde sits down next to her noticing how quickly she changed the subject.  
  
"Sure, why not." Just then Duo walks in. he looked half-asleep. He yawns as they look up.  
  
"What're you guys doing up so late? And what's with the screaming?" Duo yawns again this time his eyes close more when he finishes.  
  
"It's really none of your business." They all head back to bed, but Hilde stops by the couch to talk to Fox.  
  
"Fox, I wish you'd sleep in a bed instead of the couch then you'd actually wake up on time."  
  
"I refuse to share a room with Mr. Sarcastic, and I don't want to share a room with you, Hilde because I don't want to hear his mouth." Fox closes his eyes. "What ever, I'll try it, but in the morning."  
  
:-) After breakfast, Fox was fixing Duo's computer when Hilde walks in. "I never thought I'd find you two in the same room without fighting. Surprisingly, there are no sword marks anywhere in the room."  
  
"We can get along at times as long as he isn't running his mouth," Fox moves from behind the computer. Or acting stupid.  
  
"So why don't you two share a room? Besides you two seem to be getting along."  
  
"What are you now, my mom? . . . Fine, I'll share the room with Duo as long as he doesn't say anything." Hilde leaves satisfied.  
  
;-P "Mother she can't be as bad as you say she it, really." A young man looks at a picture of Sophia as he sits down cross-legged on a pillow in the tearoom. I see mother made herself at home. He looks around the room seeing different decorations all over most being Chinese symbols and statues. They were the only two in the room.  
  
"She's responsible for your older stepsister's death." The woman's face turns cold as she looks at the picture.  
  
He looks at her confused. "I don't remember you mentioning an older sister."  
  
"Mei was killed before I adopted you, Li." Her face changes as she looks at him only this time she looked like any other normal mother talking to her child. "You'll get to met Sophia soon enough, don't worry, and don't be tricked by her beauty. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing." The woman stands up rather rapidly and leaves the room.  
  
"If she's as bad as mother says she is than she'll have to be persuaded to help us." Unfortunately, I've already met her, before. Li gives a devious smile as a servant girl enters with some tea.  
  
She looks around when she notices Li was the only one left in the room. "Did ma lady leave so soon." She pours a cup of tea for him.  
  
"Yes, it seems she had some unfinished business." He looks at her a moment. "You're new here aren't you?" Li stands up taking the teakettle away from her.  
  
"Um. yes I am." She watches him put the kettle down. She looks down shy as he stares at her. He lifts her chin up with his hand. "You're very beautiful. You know that." She blushes at the compliment. Without warning, he kisses her.  
  
Surprised she pushes him away. "No" She turns to run, but he grabs her by the wrist and in response, she slaps him in the face. He lets her go and watches her run out the room. Another devious smile forms on his face.  
  
It's been a while since I had a good game of chase. The girl runs through the long hallways. She makes it out of the house into the night and doesn't stop for breath until she reached the back gate of the property. "Do you want to know why there weren't any other girls in the tea room or any other person in the house for that matter?"  
  
She turns around to see Li behind her. She looks at him terrified beginning to back up. How did he get here so fast?  
  
"I've had a bad few months." Li starts to walk towards her as his black eyes begin to change to a bright yellow color almost giving off there own light in the dark. "Today's really wasn't a good day to cross me." She walks past one of the lights on the gate. He enters the light and she screams as he bears his claw to rip out her throat.  
  
*_*; Heero and Trowa have been looking for Fox for almost a week, now. They kept a sharp look out, but only found few clues from his lab top computer before Fox retrieved it. They enter a store to restock on supplies. "Who would have thought I'd see you two here." They turn to see Duo and Hilde carrying a few bags. "So, what have you guys been up too lately? Chasing down suspicious characters again"  
  
"You can say that"  
  
"Hey, I was just joking, looks like you guys haven't changed. What is it this time?' another kid trying to take over the world." Duo looks at their faces seeing that they're serious. "Well if you guys are looking for someone. I can sure give you a hand." Just then, Fox comes out of the ale holding a new giant toolbox filled with up to date tools for machinery.  
  
"Did you find what you wanted, Fox." "I have to admit you were right." Fox smiles at Hilde before noticing Heero and Trowa. "I found all the tools I needed and mor . . ." NNOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fox stops when he sees them then his face goes cold. I can't believe this!  
  
Hilde looks from Fox to Heero and Trowa confused. "Is. there . . . something wrong?"  
  
"No! No! No! I am not sharing a room with them! It's hard enough sharing a room with him." Fox points at Duo.  
  
"Hey!" Duo offended sits down looking unpleased.  
  
"What's the matter, Fox; you never act like this?"  
  
"Would you believe me if I said I don't trust them, and that they're in the way." Fox begins turning a little red that was surprising to since his completion was unusually dark for a Chinese boy.  
  
"So, they're the ones you've been having trouble with. Just because you found a worthy opponent doesn't mean you can't trust them, Foxy."  
  
"Don't call me that, Hilde. Don't use my nick name like that." Fox blushes.  
  
"Sorry, Foxy." Just then, Heero and Trowa walk in the kitchen.  
  
"I've known these guys a while and whatever you did you might as well give up now because there's no escaping us and we don't give up until we get what we want."  
  
"Well, I don't give up that easily either." Fox growls at Duo and they both stand up.  
  
"It's ok to trust them." Hilde tugs on Fox's jean jacket playfully. "Is there something more you're not telling me, Fox?"  
  
"Yes, but I can't tell you; I don't want you involved." Fox eases up a little. "I'll just tell you enough to get you off my back."  
  
Day 1 "Fox! Wake up." Hilde looks at her friend annoyed.  
  
"Hum. I'll get up in . . . five minutes." Fox grumbles putting the pillow over his head. Hilde walks in the kitchen seeing Duo, Heero, and Trowa just starting breakfast.  
  
"What's the matter Hilde? Isn't Fox up yet?" Duo walks up to Hilde.  
  
"Fox just won't. . . " She stops and looks at Trowa as if something clicked, "Trowa would you mind doing me a favor?" Everyone looks at her confused.  
  
"Fox, I'll give you one more time to wake up."  
  
"I'll be there I'm just not quite awake yet." Fox puts the pillow over his face. "I'll be up in five minutes at the most." He hears footsteps of a person coming toward him.  
  
"So what's your little plan to get Fox awake, anyway?" Duo walks to the kitchen door and peeks through.  
  
"It's a little strange, but it has always worked." Hilde begins cleaning the breakfast dishes. "You'll see soon enough Duo."  
  
As Hilde finished the last dish, they heard a terrible scream followed by the sound of breaking glass. Duo stands in the corner laughing. "Hilde! You Dirty Snake!" Fox runs into the room with a slight limp still breathing hard. "You know I can't handle people in my face!"  
  
"I knew it would work." Hilde dries her hands satisfied.  
  
"That wasn't funny, Hilde." Fox gets his composure back. "Besides I broke your vase and lamp not to mention the table they were on."  
  
"So, did you like your wake up call?" Duo asks playfully.  
  
"No! I didn't like my wake up call." Trowa enters the kitchen unphased.  
  
Day 2 "Fox! Wake up." Hilde looks at her friend annoyed.  
  
"Hum. I'll get up in . . . five minutes." Fox grumbles putting the pillow over his head. Hilde walks in the kitchen seeing Duo, Heero, and Trowa just starting breakfast.  
  
"What's the matter Hilde? Fox still not up" Duo walks up to Hilde.  
  
"Fox just won't, . . . " She stops and looks at Heero as if something clicked, "Heero would you mind doing me a favor?"  
  
"Fox, I'll give you one more time to wake up."  
  
Fox opens one eye as Heero walks up to him; Fox turns over on his back pulling the covers over his head "Go away, Heero!"  
  
Heero takes out his gun and peels the covers off his head. "What do you want!"? Heero puts the gun to his neck. "Ok! Ok! I'm up! I'm up!" Fox quickly gets out of bed. Satisfied he puts the gun back in his pocket and leads fox into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, that was quick." Duo watches astonished as they sit at the table.  
  
"You'd wake up too if you had a gun to your neck." Fox grumbles as he started his eggs and bacon.  
  
Heero finishes his last pancake on his plate. "It wasn't loaded."  
  
Day 3 "Fox! Wake up."  
  
"Hum. I'll get up in . . . five minutes." Fox grumbles putting the pillow over his head. Hilde walks in the kitchen seeing Duo, Heero, and Trowa just starting breakfast.  
  
"This is it, Fox, this is the last time I wake you up!" Hilde walks in the kitchen seeing Duo, Heero, and Trowa starting breakfast.  
  
"What's the matter Hilde? Isn't that lazy Fox up yet?" Duo sits at the table.  
  
"Heero, would you mind waking up Fox, again?" Heero looks at her briefly before getting up and leaving the kitchen.  
  
Fox opens one eye as Heero walks up to him. "I'm not getting up in a while Heero, so you might as well finish your breakfast." Fox turns over putting the pillow over his head as he usually did. "It's bad enough Hilde made me share a room with you guys, I don't need you people waking me up." Heero takes the gun out of his pocket as Fox turns over and takes the pillow off his head. "You wouldn't dare." Fox challenged.  
  
"Roger that." Heero points the gun and fires.  
  
"Fox! You startled me . . . what's the matter?" Hilde asks Fox as he appeared in her room.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't know you were still getting dressed and I didn't mean to startle you." Fox walks to Hilde's dresser.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"So, when are you going to tell them?"  
  
"I'm not going to tell them because I'm leaving."  
  
"Why? Nothings happened-"  
  
"And I prefer it to stay that way!" Fox interrupts her firmly. "Plus I don't want to deal with . . . them."  
  
"Where are you going?" Hilde hopes to get a solid answer.  
  
"As always, I'll call you when I get there," Fox hands Hilde a friendship bracelet and climbs through her window.  
  
:-}) "It seems. traffic isn't working in our favor, Master Quatre." Rashid stares into traffic after being stuck in it for two hours. "I just don't understand how it got so bad."  
  
"Maybe there was an accident or one of the lights are out." Auda looks out the window.  
  
"How about, we take a detour to get to the airport." Quatre's blue green eyes look out the window curious. His platinum blond hair is dulled by the dark of the car as he suggests to Abdul.  
  
He drives until he reaches a small three-story inn almost all surrounded with bushes. "Well this is where it ends unless you want to go shopping."  
  
"Maybe they'll let us use their phone so I can tell Ms. Lan that we might be a little late and to schedule a later flight." Quatre exits the limo. Afmahd and Abdul stay behind as the three enter the house. "Hello?" Quatre walks into a well-furnished room. To his right he notices a darkened staircase, but quickly brings his attention to the man at the counter. "Sorry for intruding, but we need to borrow your phone."  
  
"No problem, you can use the phone over there." He points to the phone by the window across the counter.  
  
"I just hope we decide to stay here and actually get a decent nights' sleep." Afmahd yawns and lies back in the seat, but jumps suddenly.  
  
"What's the matter?" Abdul looks at him curious to why he jumped.  
  
"I thought I heard something."  
  
"You really are tired. Might as well rest your eyes, they won't be coming out any time-" Abdul is cut short by a roar of a gunshot from the house. They both jump out of the limo and race for the house then a cloaked figure jumps from the limo and retreats into the bushes beside the house.  
  
Quatre instantly hangs up the phone when he hears the shot. "What was-?"  
  
"It's ok, I'll check it out. It's probable my brother shooting targets again." He disappears in the side room where some shouting is heard.  
  
Just then, Afmahd and Abdul come bursting through the door wide eyed, "Master Quatre, are you all right?"  
  
"It's ok, you two, I'm fine."  
  
"At least for now." The man returns aiming a gun at Quatre. "So, you're Mr. Winner; what a surprise, you just saved us the trouble of tracking you down to kill you."  
  
Suddenly a cloaked figure jumps in front of Quatre from the darkened stars as the man fires. The bullets are blocked by the figure's sword.  
  
"Not while I'm here!" The cloaked figure stands his ground. "Go now, if you value your life."  
  
Suddenly, an identical man sticks his head in from the side room. "Min, what's with all the noise?" The cloaked figure moves closer to Min as his brother distracts him and instantly throws his sword at Min's brother stabbing him in the chest.  
  
"No, Kim!" Min watches in horror as Kim falls to the ground in shock. He looks at the cloaked figure angrily. "Bastard! You'll pay for that!" Min raises his gun, but Fox kicks the gun out of his hand then kicks him against the wall. The cloaked figure swiftly takes a two bladed sword out of belt with two cobra snakes wrapped around a rose as a handle. He raises his sward.  
  
"Wait!" Quatre yells stopping him.  
  
"I thought I told you to leave," he says without looking at Quatre, but as Quatre walks over to Kim on the floor. The cloaked figure glances over. "What are you doing?"  
  
"We can still save him if we get him to a hospital." Quatre looks at him with pleading eyes. "If you care at all you'll spare him."  
  
The cloaked figure puts his gaze back on Min then his sword. He dives his sword though the wall millimeters from his neck. Taking the sword out of the wall, the figure turns it's back on him. "Do what you want."  
  
Just then, Wufei comes from the side room. Seeing Wufei, the cloaked figure slowly removes the hood from his head. "Sophia?" They stare at each other as Sally enters from the side room. Suddenly, six ninjas and a burly man enter from the front door. "I want Mr. Winner and Sophia alive. Kill the rest!" Min exits though the front door.  
  
Wufei takes the sword out of Kim's, now, dead body and prepares to fight as the ninjas take out swords as well. They attack first, but Sally ends the assault after emptying her gun on them. Only two escaped the deadly onslaught unscathed; they're either dead or dying. The remaining ninjas discard their swords as she puts her emptied gun away. The burly man like an angry elephant plunges toward Quatre after Wufei throws the sword in Quatre's direction landing inches away. Before Quatre could reach the sword, the burly man steps in front of him and grabs his neck lifting him off the ground like a living room lamp. He begins to squeeze his neck as he struggles to get free.  
  
"Master Quatre!"  
  
Sophia puts a blade to the burly man's neck and he stops squeezing, "Put him down unless you want a new air hole." Suddenly, there are some explosions and the room starts to fill with smoke then the burly man throws Quatre into her, and he is thrown to the ground by the impact of the sword goes flying. The smoke gets thicker driving everyone from the house except Quatre, Sophia, and the burly man. 


	5. Surprises

Gundam Wing Episode 5 *Surprises 11:00pm  
  
A handful of police officers on motorcycles begin to show up. Sally looks at the house puzzled. Where did all that smoke come from?  
  
"We can take it from here." Sally turns to see a Chinese boy around Wufei's height with a police officer's uniform on. He had short black hair and dark green eyes. "My name is Officer Tembo. You probable think I'm 16, but I implore you; I'm older than I look . . . Wufei, long time no see. How's Sophia?"  
  
"I can't say." Wufei takes good hard look at him. "Last time I heard she was somewhere in the L3 colonies."  
  
Meanwhile inside the house, Sophia regains consciousness and realizes that Quatre was on top of him unconscious. She gasps when she saw that the sword had cut though the collar of her training uniform then closes her eyes and reaches into her pocket pulling out a pair of heat vision glasses. Putting them on, she sees that the burly man is feeling for them with his giant hands.  
  
The smoke starts to find its way to the floor as Quatre slowly regains consciousness. Quatre begins to cough uncontrollably; Sophia takes one big breath, holds it, and covers Quatre's mouth as the burly man comes their way after hearing Quatre's coughs. He finally stops when the burly man was a few feet away from them. Sophia gets an idea when she looks straight up and sees the handle of her Cobra sword.  
  
The smoke was a good idea, but now I have to find a way out of here. Sophia starts to slide from under Quatre when a giant hand grabs her ankle and pulls her up. Sophia's first reaction is to grab hold of the sword on the way up, but she doesn't get a good enough grip. She hangs upside down holding the sword between her index and middle finger as the cloak drapes over Sophia's head and begins to come off. If I can just get a good grip. Wait, the cloak. Satisfied with his first capture, the burly man listens carefully for Quatre's coughs.  
  
Taking one hand out of her cloak Sophia wraps it around her sword with the other. She finally takes her other hand out of the cloak holding both ends throws the cloak with the sword at the burly man. It happens to hit the burly man in the balls and he lets go of Sophia. As he falls to the ground in pain, Sophia takes this chance to pick up Quatre and climb the stares to the second floor. Sophia enters a bedroom and opens a window for some fresh air so Quatre could breathe normally.  
  
"I don't understand. Why did you bother trying to save my life?" Quatre manages to say without coughing.  
  
"Did you want me to leave you there?" Sophia annoyed avoids his gaze as she peeks through the door then quickly closes it without making a sound.  
  
"No, but-"  
  
"Good, now be quiet so I can think of a plan to get out of here without being noticed." Sophia walks up to the window after placing Quatre on the bed.  
  
After a long pause, Quatre looks at Sophia. I have a feeling I've met her before but where. "Thanks."  
  
"I guess I'm not as heartless as you think. Now, I know I do have a conscious."  
  
"I'm sorry if-"  
  
"Don't be. What we need to do is to think of a way to get out of here."  
  
Quatre walks to Sophia then looks out the window. "We could make it to the tree if we use that ledge."  
  
Damn, did it have to be something I wasn't good at? Sophia starts out on the ledge followed by Quatre. As they start to make it to the end, a giant hand smashes through one of the nearby windows and lunges for Quatre, but he moves just in time and he only manages to snag Quatre's suit jacket. Sophia grabs Quatre's coat sleeve. "Take off your coat jacket and grab my sleeve so you won't fall!" Quatre listens, but misses Sophia's sleeve. Sophia grabs his wrist as he falls and swings Quatre to the ledge on his left closest to the tree. "Come on, we have a little more to go." Maybe I'm starting to have some good luck, finally.  
  
Suddenly, a piece of the wooden ledge breaks off, Sophia falls to her knees, and then the rest collapses from under her. "Are you ok!"? Quatre's voice brings her back from passing out.  
  
"Ow, I landed on my back! What do you think?!" Sophia rolls over to his right and stands up. Damn! I lost my glasses. This day just can't get any worse.  
  
"Hey!" Sophia looks up just as Quatre plows into her.  
  
"Maaan, someone just doesn't like me today. Do you mind getting off me? I'm done being your safety net."  
  
Quatre gets off and helps her up. "Do you think everyone got out safely?"  
  
"Don't worry they left way before we did." Sophia looks for his glasses in the bushes. "They're most likely on the front lawn." She kneels to get a better look since the only light source was the back porch light.  
  
"What are you looking for?"  
  
"My heat sensor glasses, I lost them when I fell." She stands up and looks at Quatre for a moment. "Go, your friends are probable worried about you."  
  
"Are you sure you'll be ok by yourself?"  
  
"Just go, I'm seventeen years old and I know I look fifteen. I've done this hundreds of times; unlike you, I know what I'm doing. GO!" Sophia watches him leave and takes off herself.  
  
?_^ "I can't believe this! We were this close to capturing Sophia and you screwed up, and Mr. Winner wasn't supposed to die until we got control of his business and resource satellites. I'm actually glad Sophia screwed it up." Li says to Min through a screen who was sitting uncomfortable in the limo driving down an empty street. "And it's bad enough that you left your brother to die, who was carrying important papers I asked for."  
  
"Sorry, Master Li, I'll go back for the papers."  
  
"No, need, you're worthless to me, now. This was your last assignment, goodnight Min." As the screen goes black, the limo explodes.  
  
Li turns in his seat. "Black Panther it's your turn to step up to the plate or so Americans say. It seems the Hyena Brothers weren't able to meet up with my standards." He begins to tap on his desk. His fingers get longer ending in a sharp point.  
  
"Yes, Master Li, I'll start my first assignment right away." She keeps her ground knowing when he changes it was dangerous to be alone in the same room as him. He tends to kill senselessly especially when he's angry.  
  
"And one more thing; I want Jeff disposed of. He'll talk when he finds out his brothers are dead. A hyena is useless without its pack." Li digs his nails in the desk as though trying hard not to do something. He looks Black Panther straight in the eyes his eyes shining. "I'm counting on you. Don't fail like the others."  
  
"Don't worry about Jeff; I already sent one of my men to take care of him."  
  
~_^ "I'm sorry Duo, but left last night and said he'd e-mail me." Duo nearly chokes on his last pancake. "If you want to find Fox, you'll have to wait till he e-mails me or try and figure it out where he is." Heero follows her to the next room. "Here's all Fox left behind." Hilde stacks a bunch of newspapers and magazines on each other. "From the looks of it Fox was trying to find a job that's why she . . . stayed with us for a while, but you can rule out the L5 colonies."  
  
"Why is that?" Duo and Trowa enter the room.  
  
"Well . . . Fox lost everything there: family, friends, and even the colony he was actually born in, all destroyed in the war. He was 14 when it happened."  
  
"So, how did you guys meet, anyway?" Duo sits down listening to interested.  
  
"Well, it was after the start of the war and school was starting its second term. Teri, the name he used at the time, and some guys were messing with a kitten while I was on my way home from school. Teri told them to stop after picking it up; he looked seven or eight years old back then so they started a fight that ended rather quickly, but the kitten died before we could get it any help. Teri blamed himself for it after I helped him burry it. I let him spend the night a few times. He didn't say a word to me since we met and when I tucked him into bed one night he said to me, 'I shouldn't have fed it; it was better off scared of me. I should have left well enough alone.'"  
  
"So, what happened after that?"  
  
"We became best friends from there. Well if it helps, Fox said he cut off some guys hand and that maybe he could get some info from him before moving in. Maybe we could catch him."  
  
"He's being held at the police building a few miles from here." Trowa moves around some newspapers. He looks up at them. "The problem is getting to him without being noticed."  
  
"Don't worry as always we'll fond a way." Duo sits back confidently. "Lets go, check it out then think of a plan so we'll know what we're up against."  
  
;-`{ Light shines through the window of Quatre's office as he picks up a white teacup. He sits back in the chair sipping his tea. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door in the other room and looks up when he hears the door open. After he stands up, he walks in the other room. A young woman in her early twenties looks at pictures on the wall. "Hello, may I help you?"  
  
She turns around and looks at him with dark green eyes, black hair, and wears a red business suit with matching shoes. "So, you're Mr. Winner." She walks to him and shakes his hand. "Hi, my name is Ms. Hiyami Taichi, and I'm here as construction inspection for the new building you're going to build."  
  
"I was expecting you yesterday, but I guess traffic was a mess this morning. Everywhere traffic is bad for some reason. I had a little trouble getting here, myself."  
  
She smiles at him. "Yeah, you literally have to kill someone to get where you want to go."  
  
~_@ "And why do I always have to be the dangerous criminal that has to be locked up?" Duo asks before they enter the building. Heero escorts Duo with Hilde and Trowa not far behind up to the desk. Heero talks to the man at the desk while Trowa slips away from the group and quickly enters a stairway climbing them to the tenth floor. He enters an intersection in a long hallway and goes straight, but hides behind an opening door as two police officers talk. After they're a safe distance away, he enters the room they were in which is empty except for the master computer at his disposal.  
  
Trowa notices that the room was connected to another room by a one-way bulletproof glass window with him able to see a man in the other room while he couldn't see him from his side, and Trowa quickly recognized him to be Jeff from the circus incident and that Fox cut off his hand. The reattached hand seemed to have had almost all function restored. He goes straight to the computer and down loads what info the police already got from him on a CD Rom then puts the Rom in his pocket when he hears voices.  
  
"So, far all we have is a big zero to where Sophia is and I doubt he knows where she is." Sally turns on the lights. Sally looks behind her when Wufei turns toward the door. "Trowa?"  
  
The jail bars clang shut on Duo as Hilde and Heero are about to begin plan B when they hear Sally's voice. "I wish you guys would ask for me, first, before testing out the security."  
  
"Hey, thanks for the guided tour. I'm out of money right now, so I hope you're not expecting any tips." Duo says when he's out of jail and in the elevator.  
  
"Don't worry, Duo, I wasn't expecting any." Sally enters the room noticing a man cleaning the windows and Jeff stands suddenly. "Get Down!" All of a sudden, there's a large explosion as everyone ducks taking Sally's hint. The glass shatters as Jeff flies through it. Everybody gets up unharmed except Jeff.  
  
Duo whistles. "Man, I'd hate to be the one that has to clean this up." Fox enters the room from one of the vents and walks over to Jeff to see if he's still alive.  
  
"Fox, I bet you never thought you'd see us here." Duo motions to the others that he'll take care of the situation and walks over to Fox. Fox stares at Duo for a moment then goes back to what he was doing. "Hey, I know you don't like me, but let s talk, ok." Fox stands up looking at Duo. "Whoever these guys are, we can help you. What do you say?"  
  
"He's dead."  
  
". . . Um yeah, I kind of figured that out when he went flying through bullet proof glass."  
  
Fox looks at Duo, again. "You talk too much. You know that." He brushes past him and goes into the next room in which the explosion came from. "I came, too, late."  
  
"Fox, wait!" Hilde runs up to him, she grabs his arm. "At least tell me where you're going, Fox."  
  
Fox looks at her. "How would your best friend feel if I let you tag along and you were killed? She'd never forgive me or herself."  
  
Hilde takes a step back and looks at him a strange way. "Are you . . . okay?" He seems different somehow, but I don't know how.  
  
"Go, "I know you'll at least be safe with them and I have some unfinished business . . . I'm not who you think I am." Hilde gasps as a blade of a sword emerges from his stomach.  
  
Fox falls to his knees as the man with the sword removes it from his body. "So, the notorious Fox can be distracted."  
  
"Fox!!" The blade of a sword stops Hilde before she could try to help Fox.  
  
"All of you stay where you are." The man tells the others then looks at Hilde and grabs her arm. "You're going to be my safe ticket out of here." Sally reaches for the gun in her pocket. "And don't try anything funny or I'll kill her."  
  
Fox stands up which surprises everyone. "Let her go!"  
  
"Fox you're not dead yet? A mater a fact, I'll put you out of your misery right now. Say Good bye, Fox!!"  
  
The man swings the sword at Fox, but he catches it with his hand. "It seems you have the wrong Fox." Fox's eyes glow red as he snatches the sword from him and sparks start to fly from where he was stabbed.  
  
Hilde takes a step back. "You're . . . you're one of Sophia's robots aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, I am . . . if I were you I'd, leave before I self destruct. I wasn't supposed to be found out." Fox's body begins to glow bright.  
  
"Hilde! Come on!" Duo grabs Hilde and runs for the hallway as the robot explodes.  
  
%_% A Chinese boy looking about fourteen or fifteen walks into a large room and looks around. He raises an eyebrow then it returns to its lifeless state as he realizes he was in the wrong room. This is why I hate mansions. He notices the room's walls were all body length mirrors and walking to the nearest one looks at himself. He quickly straightens his black tie on his black tuxedo and fixes his cufflinks hopping it wouldn't look a size too big. At least my pants fit. He looks down at his Chinese slippers that didn't match his tuxedo. "I new I should of bought those dress shoes."  
  
The boy in the corner of his eye notices as someone walks up behind him. "May I help you?" a deep booming voice asks. The boy turns around and sees a navy blue belt, blue shirt, and the end of a navy blue vest. He looks up and slams into the glass in shock; he closes his eyes as glass shatters everywhere.  
  
He opens one eye then the other looking at the wreckage he cased. "Oops" The tall man glares at him as the boy gives him a big, but quick nervous smile that didn't match his face.  
  
"Let me guess, new kid." The man says looking at him a moment as he shakes his head yes. Well, that's coming out of his first paycheck. "My name's Rashid, and from what I just witnessed; I might have to keep an eye on you."  
  
"So, the new kid finally decided to show." Three men walk into the room. "Wha, what happened here?"  
  
"Tikki, you'll be working with these three a long with myself; this is Abdul, Auda, and Afmahd." Rashid ignores their comments. "Afmahd I want you to give Tikki here a tour of the mansion so he won't get lost any more... I'll clean up this mess."  
  
"And here's the kitchen." They both enter. "This is the most important room in the whole mansion." He opens the fridge and takes out bread and sandwich fixings. He puts the ingredients on the table and starts making sandwiches. "Here you go; take it; I know your hungry it's written all over your face."  
  
Tikki sits down and takes the sandwich Afmahd hands to him. "Thank you." He eats it quickly.  
  
"You want another one?"  
  
"No thanks, I don't want to . . . stuff myself." Tikki watches Afmahd start on his forth one. Wait a minute what's that?  
  
"Something wrong?" Afmahd notices Tikki looking at something on the wall.  
  
"You're not eating, again, already, Afmahd." The pleasant voice knocks Tikki out of his thoughts.  
  
"Master Quatre! Are you hungry?"  
  
"No thank you, I already ate lunch." Quatre looks at Tikki as he walks over.  
  
He bows to Quatre. "Hello my name is Tikki Rembu."  
  
"Hi my name is Quatre Raberba Winner. Please to meet you, so you're the new worker Rashid was talking about."  
  
Sudden blushing interrupted Tikki's blank expression, which surprised Quatre because of his dark completion. "If you'd accept my apology for the glass . . . you see . . . I wasn't expecting Rashid . . . to be so . . . big."  
  
"It's ok, don't worry about it; it's easily fixed. Come, let me issue you your uniform; we won't be starting until Friday morning." Tikki follows Quatre into a storage room with vigorous sizes of uniforms and helmets. Quatre takes out two different sizes and hands them to Tikki. "Try both of them on and see which one fits best. You can always switch it out for another on." Tikki then follows Quatre to another room. "You can change in here."  
  
Tikki opens his coat and pulls out a laptop computer then setting it on a small table it automatically opens as Tikki begins to change. The screen starts out fuzzy, but finally clears and the screen reveals an old man with short, heavy gray, mop top hair, long nose, and a scar just under his left eye. "What do you want?"  
  
"Is that anyway to talk to someone who called to see if you're still alive and is wiring you money?" the old man says in an angry, lifeless voice.  
  
"If you don't mind, right now I don't need any help. I'm starting my job tomorrow. You know I hate to ask anyone for anything, and quit keeping tabs on me Professor."  
  
"If you want to know it wasn't my idea." His voice is cold as the screen splits into two and another face emerges.  
  
"Doctor S!" Tikki looks up in surprise as he finished putting on the first uniform that fit quite nicely and goes on his knees in front of the laptop. "Why must you keep tabs on me? I've been doing this kind of thing since I was eight." Just as he finished the screen split into thirds. "Instructor O, not you too?"  
  
"Is it so wrong to make sure you're, ok." Another familiar voice as the screen splits again into fourths. "Ok, ok. I know you guys all worried about me . . . where's Doctor J?" Then Doctor J pops up in the middle of the screen with a big toothy smile.  
  
"I see you missed me . . . oh, what is it, now? Tikki Rembu." The five scientists laugh at once sending a chill down Tikki's spine.  
  
Just then, there's a knock on the door and Tikki shuts the screen on his hand so he wouldn't hand up as the door opens. "Hey, Tikki some guys are going to a party. Want to come?"  
  
"Sure, but first I have to say goodbye to some nosy uncles of mine." Tikki says to a new face holding in the pain. After she closes the door, Tikki wonders aloud. "I don't remember Afmahd showing me any women workers." He lifts the screen off his hand somewhat lost in thought."  
  
"Uncles?" Tikki looks back at the screen.  
  
"You guys know you're like family to me. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you guys." Tikki's voice is sympathetic.  
  
"Where did you get this from?" Tikki closes a binder in surprise and is thrown a set of keys.  
  
"Lets just say Professor G and the others wanted to give you an early birthday present." A man with sunglasses stands next to Tikki with the binder in a store, but that happened to be next to a bar.  
  
But there's no way! . . . It has a lot of information about Osprey and a new organization called Black Zoë. "But how did they get all this? It doesn't make any sense," Tikki looks down at the binder then hands it back to Sunglasses. . . . Unless we still have a spy somewhere . . . but who's left? We lost so many.  
  
"I don't know, Tikki, you'll have to ask them, yourself. They say you change your name a lot and that it's hard to keep track of you. I'm starting to believe them. G said to give you a bike he finished for you, and you should pick it up tomorrow."  
  
He begins to leave. "Wait! What's your name?"  
  
"My name's Howard." Howard exits the store leaving Tikki alone.  
  
Howard's Used and New Parts Tikki stuffs the keys in his pocket after reading the inscription on the keys. He heads out the store and goes back to the bar. He walks into the bar surprised as Afmahd wraps his arm around his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Tikki, where were you?" Afmahd has a heavy smell of liquor on his breath. "We were looking all over for you?"  
  
"Sorry, I slipped out for a moment," Tikki says as he sees the others even more drunk than Afmahd himself. "Maybe . . . I was gone a little too long."  
  
+_+ "Mariemaia are you sure you want to postdate your birthday party for next mouth." Lady Une looks at Mariemaia as she stares out the window.  
  
"Yes, Sophia's right. I shouldn't have my parties before my birthday like I usually do. I should have a change this year. Besides it will give Sophia enough time to find me a present." The longer I give her the better the present. She giggles aloud then stops as quickly as she started. I hope she's well and nothing bad has happened to her.  
  
"Understand, I don't want you to get your hopes up and she isn't able to make it." She walks up to the desk where Mariemaia's sitting with the chair facing slightly towards Lady Une.  
  
"Sophia said she'd be at my party." Mariemaia turns to face Lady Une not making eye contact with her trying hard not to show her worry. "And she always keeps her promises . . . I'm just wondering where she could be right now."  
  
"It depends; it could be night where she is."  
  
"I won't worry too much. Where ever she is I know she's having a ball." But, I can't shake this feeling that something awful is going to happen.  
  
$_$ Quatre closes the door to another empty room puzzled. "Where is everyone?" He turns as someone walks up to him from the shadows.  
  
"Is something wrong, Mater Quatre?" Rashid walks out of the shadows.  
  
"Oh, it's you Rashid."  
  
Rashid opens a few windows. "Have you seen Abdul?"  
  
"That's the thing, I can't find anyone." Quatre starts down the hall with Rashid not far behind.  
  
"That's weird; I thought for sure they'd be home by two." They make it to the end of the hall.  
  
"You mean you didn't go with them." Quatre stops at the elevator.  
  
"No, Ms. Taichi needed some assistance so I couldn't go with them."  
  
"Well." Quatre and Rashid enter the elevator. "Maybe they're at breakfast, already."  
  
"They probably had such a blast that they forgot the time." Silence fills the elevator as Rashid looks at his watch. Quatre stares out the widow at the scenery of the colony a little uneasy. "Well the good news is they finished the building while we were gone and we can start on the building for Miss Relena Darlian."  
  
"We're already almost a week late in staring that building, too. Hopefully, Tikki will help speed up construction and not hinder us." They exit the elevator and head for the kitchen; they're stopped in their tracks at the kitchen doorway in shock to see it filled with sleeping Maganacs. It looks like they're all here. Quatre gives a sigh of relief.  
  
Rashid still bewildered by the sight of his men notice a pot on the stove. Who would be eating soup this early in the morning? Then he noticed Tikki sitting in a chair a sleep. Looks like the guys tired him out, already and it's not even his first day, yet.  
  
Quatre carefully makes it up to the table without stepping on anyone. I wonder why everyone's in here. "Hum" Quatre looks down as Auda takes a hold of his ankle. Quatre crouches down. "Auda" He shakes him a bit. "You can let go of me, now."  
  
"Give me a kiss first, Sasha." Auda puckers up his lips as he says this.  
  
"Sasha?" Quatre is bewildered as Auda tries to kiss his fantasy girl that was unfortunately Quatre. Rashid hits him on the head with a newspaper snapping Auda out of his dream sequence.  
  
"Hey! Why 'd you do that for!" Auda lets go not noticing Quatre. The ruckus wakes a few Maganacs.  
  
"Maybe that will teach you to listen to a girl when she says to let go, especially, if Quatre says to let go."  
  
"That must have been some party, huh." Quatre half laughs.  
  
"Master Quatre! I'm sorry." Auda stands up quickly helping Quatre up as well. "Are you hungry?" The others stand up to make more room for Quatre.  
  
"It's ok I can get it." Quatre looks around. "I'm surprised you all managed to fit in the kitchen none the less find a place to sleep. What time did you guys come home last night?" By the look on their faces, Quatre could tell they didn't know. "Then, how did you all make it home?" They look at each other confused. "Well, whatever you did sure knock Tikki out. He looks over worked already and today's his first day."  
  
"Okay, everybody up! Come on!" Rashid yell to wakes the rest when he noticed Tikki and a few others were still asleep. Hum, looks like Tikki isn't a light sleeper.  
  
Quatre walks over to Tikki and shakes him. "Tikki"  
  
"Hum." Tikki whispers without opening his eyes. "Just give me ten more minutes, dad."  
  
Quatre looks a little bewildered by the comment. "Tikki, I think you're still half asleep."  
  
"Hum." Tikki opens his eyes to see Quatre, Rashid, and a few Maganacs hovering over him. "Quatre!" He jumps back in surprise and loses his balance on the chair falling backwards. Tikki sits up realizing to late that he landed on Afmahd who accidentally flings Tikki into the wall behind him when Afmahd stands up, quickly.  
  
"Ooh," They wince as Tikki hit the wall.  
  
"Sorry about that, Tikki, you ok?" Afmahd helps him up.  
  
"Yeah. I'm ok." He feels the back of his head. "That's the first time I pile forty guys into a kitchen."  
  
"You brought them home?" Quatre looks at him surprised as well as impressed.  
  
"Sure, I thought I'd pay you back for the broken glass- Fed the ones that could eat and the ones that couldn't . . . I gave Saltines, Spite, or Mountain Dew which you currently have none."  
  
"So that explains the soup."  
  
"Well, fellow soldiers tend to put up with you more when you can cook and plus, it's either that or starve." Tikki rubs the back of his head. "I guess I'm a little clumsy." 


	6. The Arrivals

Gundam Wing Episode 6 *The Arrivals* 11:45am  
  
About a week later, a shuttle takes off from an L2 colony. "I don't know Heero. Quatre might be too busy to help us. He's working on a few new buildings. They say his crew is the fastest and safest in building construction."  
  
"If anyone can get a lead on Fox its Quatre," Heero says confident.  
  
Duo notices Trowa looking a little toned out. "What's the matter, Trowa?"  
  
"Hum . . . there's something about Fox that's familiar . . . but I can't put my finger on it," Trowa says softly closing his eyes to sleep for the fifteen-hour trip.  
  
"Where'd you get that," Duo asks as Heero takes a black box out of his pocket.  
  
"I picked it up after the robot exploded."  
  
"You think it's important?"  
  
"I don't know, but I have a hunch it is." Heero quickly stuffs it in his pocket as a stewardess comes by.  
  
"Does anyone need a blanket?" She asks notices that Hilda and Trowa were asleep.  
  
"No thank-"  
  
"Sure and maybe some snacks as well," Duo says cutting Heero off.  
  
"Mr. . . . "  
  
"Maxwell, Duo Maxwell, just call me Duo."  
  
"Ok . . . Duo, I'll be right back," she says walking away. A few minutes later, the stewardess came back with the things asked for.  
  
"And thank you, beautiful. Fastest service I've ever had. What's your name so I can recommend you to some of my friends"?  
  
"My name is Shimi," Shimi winks at Duo, "and if you need anything just call me." She walks away leaving Duo to chow down after throwing Heero a blanket for Trowa and covers Hilde.  
  
"The robot was right." Heero places the blanket on Trowa and sits back in his seat crossing his arms.  
  
"Hum." Duo looks at Heero.  
  
"You do talk too much," Heero says knowing the comment would get on his nerves.  
  
"Well, you can just forget about me sharing any snacks with you! Why don't you take Trowa's example and get some sleep. It's going to be a long trip."  
  
"Good idea, there's nothing else to do." Heero closes his eyes as Duo opens a bag of chips.  
  
Ha, he actually listened to me. Duo stuffs a few chips in his mouth.  
  
Trowa's right there is something familiar about Fox. Heero slowly falls asleep despite the obnoxious chewing of Duo. He dodged or blocked almost all my moves . . . like he knew them . . . something . . . familiar about . . . his . . . fighting . . . style . . .  
  
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~  
  
Five years after Dr. J had found me, I had just finished my first base infiltration that was a success. "Good job Heero; now, it's time for a new type of training," Dr. J said as I entered the new completed training room. "I want you to fight a new student who had just mastered a few rounds of training." A small cloaked figure about four feet tall walks up to Dr. J as I came closer. "Now, take off the cloak so it won't slow you down."  
  
"No," the kid said in the tiniest voice but loud enough to hear pulling the hood further over her face.  
  
"You're not just going to give up, are you," Dr. J tries unsuccessfully to take off the cloak off her pulling her and the cloak a few feet in the air. A small smile formed on my face before she dropped to the floor and we made eye contact.  
  
I guess she saw my smile and returned it then looked up at Dr. J. "He's hungry," she says before Dr. J could say anything just then my stomach growls, which actually surprised me.  
  
"Fine, since everyone's hungry we might as well." A wave of fried fish hit me as I entered the room with a long table that was set. I remember sitting next to her at the table.  
  
"I made it myself," she said which surprised me because this was my first time seeing her and by the way she looked when she came in it looked like she just arrived. "Do you like it?" she looked me straight in the eyes when she said this. Her eyes seemed too burned into mine as though she was reading my mind . . . eyes like Wufei . . . only, with some brown cut into them like someone took a knife and slashed each eye with a hint of brown which wasn't visible until you looked closely. That dinner was the biggest I've ever had and still was. "Now that you've had your fill, we'll wait three hours before we fight," this time her voice was serious and not as small as she got up from the table.  
  
She fought fast and swift, but I easily overpowered her. That didn't stop her though; she was sneaky and crafty exploiting any weak point she saw in me, soon evening us out, teaching me to be more careful and alert around everyone on my mission of Operation Meteor. I admired that, but unfortunately, nothing would prepare me for Relena. Her whole attitude changed back when the exercise was over, like she was two separate people . . . Like two separate people . . . the same way . . .  
  
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~  
  
Heero was jerked awake by a sudden explosion and the screams of the other frightened passengers. "Everybody calm down. It seems to be a minor explosion. We're working on it right now," Shimi says to calm the passengers.  
  
"Excuse me, about how long is this going to take," says a female voice that sounded familiar.  
  
"I'm not sure, but it's going to delay our trip," Shimi answers as Duo turns in his seat to see who the person was who was talking behind him.  
  
"Hi, never thought you'd see me again, huh," Duo says to her.  
  
Flirting again, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason Hilde and Duo broke up in the first place, but he never was the person to go around flirting even though sometimes it doesn't seem that way all the time though. He usually just sticks with one girl. They both are taking this braking up thing pretty well since they're still good friends. I'll just forget about it, most likely an old friend of his. Heero decides to ignore Duo's little conversation and see if he could speed up repairs.  
  
"What needs fixing?" Trowa asks as though reading Heero's mind.  
  
"The left engine I believe," Shimi says moving out of his way as Heero stands up.  
  
"Hey Heero, aren't you going to say hi to your girlfriend," Duo calls suddenly.  
  
"Hum," Heero looks straight into the eyes of Relena Darlian, "Relena?"  
  
-_- Tikki wakes up with the sound of the alarm clock the reading 3:00 a.m. from across the room. He just stares at it half awake waiting for it to stop. After 15 minutes of constant beeping, he moans and pulls his pillow over his head to drown it out, but his sensitive ears still pick it up.  
  
Why did I have to get the clock that doesn't stop beeping until you get up and turn it off. Frustrated Tikki finally gets up and turns it off. He looks it the mirror at his glowing bright blue eyes in the mirror. I might have to do something about that, but first a shower. Without turning on any lights, he showers and dresses wearing all black. He looks in the mirror again at his glowing eyes. I might need these babies the way they are, just in case.  
  
Tikki dashes though the hallways not making a sound until he reaches the kitchen. Moving a picture on the wall, he presses a button and a secret door opens. He walks in and the door closes swiftly behind him. After a while of walking, he enters an old hanger that looked like it used to hold mobel suits. Cobwebs were everywhere and the air was slightly stifling as though the hanger hasn't been used in a few years.  
  
He goes as high as he could since looking down was easier than looking up and he'd easily be out of sight if anyone was inside. That's when he noticed Hiyami below and she was talking to someone in what looked like a green ninja. Tikki looks at Hiyami, but a sudden movement on the other side catches his eye.  
  
What, the hell was that? His eyes focus on someone with binoculars looking straight at him. Great I don't need this now. Tikki decides he's not important and turns back to Hiyami, but she and the ninja were parting ways. EEEAHH! Stupid, you let yourself be distracted. I'll have to try again another time. He moves away from the railing and heads for the exit, but stops on the second section.  
  
"You know, you're louder then you think." He turns as a guy about 5'11", with high cheekbones, skin that was nice cream color, coal black hair that came to his knees in a braid and serious eyes the color of aquamarines covered in frost. His clothes were all black, but his T-shirt had its sleeves cut off and a leather jacket.   
  
"I'm surprised you heard me at all." His voice was a light tenor that was rare in men and uncommon even in women, and by his accent, he was Australian.  
  
"What impressed me was how fast you got here. It's rare to find someone who's as fast as I am." Tikki takes a step back as a gun goes off the bullet grazes his head.  
  
"I had a feeling it was a little too easy." Hiyami says pointing the gun at them. "I was expecting Fox, but not Niko Nightwind. I'm flattered. I didn't know I was that famous." She fires.  
  
Tikki yawns sleep in his eyes still remembering how he jumped over the railing the railing to escape the fire of the deadly assassin. It turned out he was her target so her distracted her long enough that Niko got away. His eyes close slightly beginning to doze off. "Niko Nightwind, I wonder if I'll," Tikki mumbles as he slides upside down hanging from a steel beam the guys below catch what he says.  
  
"Looks like someone has girls on the mind," two Maganacs say in unison as everybody begins to eat their lunch.  
  
"I knew he was mad about not meeting a girl last month at the party. Next time we'll leave one for you ok, Tikki," Auda says with a smile. "They were all over me. Maybe I can give you some pointers next time."  
  
Tikki opens an eye then closes it again turning right side up on the bar. Like I'd want help in that department. They took pity on him because he was so drunk; they didn't want him to get tramped by the dancing couples. Tikki looks up to see Rashid who seemed a little distracted on the beam above. He stands up and jumps so he could get a good grip on the beam above and pulling himself up then sits next to Rashid. "This is the hundredth time Ms. Hiyami Taichi caught your eye, am I right?"  
  
Rashid jumps at the sound of Tikki's voice. "Aren't you supposed to be working instead of harassing me?" How can someone so serious be so immature at the same time?  
  
"I would be if it wasn't our lunch brake, plus it's my favorite pass time."  
  
"Everything about you is lifeless that is until you get yourself in trouble."  
  
"Can't I have something normal about me? Besides am I right about Ms. Taichi or not."  
  
"If you keep this up, I'll consider taking everything you broke out of your pay check on Friday."  
  
"So, it's that close. Thanks for telling me." Man, I can't even ask a question without being ratted on. "If you're thinking about asking her out my rose garden beside the mansion has started to bloom, so if you need roses, just call me."  
  
; ( Damn! These guys are good. I might have to think of a different plan to find Fox. Well, look on the bright side I get to watch theses guys work, sweat, and see some muscle. Shimi hands Trowa something to drink.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Wow, look at those dark green eyes, mustard brown hair, and to top it all off... muscle on muscle . . . if I weren't a dangerous spy I'd date him in a heartbeat, but I always have the worst luck with guys. With my luck, he's after Fox too and is a dangerous assassin . . . why, is he looking at me?  
  
"I believe my friends would like something to drink as well," Trowa says after she stared at him for at least five minutes straight.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Shimi says knowing she's blushing as she hands Heero and Duo a drink. "I'm sorry about that, excuse me." She exits the back room jumping into a bathroom. That was real stupid, Shimi. He probably thinks you're a gawking idiot, now.  
  
Trowa watches Shimi exit quickly. "G's, Trowa, you stole her away from me with one look."  
  
"Hum," Trowa turns to face Duo.  
  
"I think she likes you, Trowa."  
  
"If you want her, she's yours, Duo."  
  
"I don't know, I've already talked to her and she didn't give me a look like that."  
  
"She humored you, to be nice," Heero says after finishing his drink. "If you haven't noticed this is a conversation between Trowa and I," Duo says not pleased with Heero's remark, "Well, you don't have to worry about getting a girl since you have Relena."  
  
Heero looks at Duo a moment before turning back to his work, "Just because you can't get a girl doesn't mean you can take it out on me."  
  
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Duo looks at him a second before deciding to shrug it off. "So, Trowa, you like her? Come on, I saw the way you were looking at her."  
  
Trowa puts down his drink, "If you haven't noticed we have work to do." Sure, beat up the little guy who's just trying to help.  
  
:`) Tikki looks up at the simulated sky of the colony. Hum, looks so real, but at the same time you know it's fake. He watches a bunch of kids playing ball. Unless you're a kid nothing bothers you or at least they're supposed. Tikki drives into the driveway on his motorcycle then parks it beside the rose garden. I better get started if Rashid wants these flowers maybe then I can start looking around more without getting caught.  
  
Auda comes out of the mansion, but instead of greeting, him Tikki went to a small door leading to the basement of gardening supplies. "Great, just great, who trashed the place!" This is going to take forever to clean up. He sits Indian style on the floor for a moment and sighs wondering where to start first, that's when he hears an unfamiliar voice from outside. Tikki slides to the half-cracked door to listen.  
  
"Tiger, where are you, now?" says a person with an Australian accent.  
  
"I'm in the bathroom on the shuttle heading your way," replies a strong, frustrated Jamaican accent only it came from a communicator.  
  
"Make up your mind are you going to stop it or are you actually coming here?"  
  
"I did stop it, and then these three guys are fixing it as we speak."  
  
"Well, you can't come now I haven't found her yet. If you come now my plan won't work."  
  
"Don't count on me so soon the pilots have been disposed of unless these guys plan on piloting the shuttle themselves... So, you haven't been able to locate her at all and without being detected."  
  
"Yes, but it's hard to be a maid and look for her when these guys hit on you all the time, and trying to disguise myself as a Maganacs is even worse you never know when your twin is going to walk in, so I'm going to try something else.  
  
"Don't worry about it right now it's a big place, you most likely haven't seen her yet. Oh and one more thing make sure your disguise has no flaws or she'll know you're in a disguise, ok Niko." The transmitter blips out. "Looks like I'm off to work, then."  
  
~~~~~ Flash ~~~~~  
  
The door closes and Sophia turns around to see a Chinese boy at the age of 14. "Pip, you know you're not allowed in here. If Master O catches you in here you're in big trouble."  
  
"Still the goody, goody huh, Sophia." Pip walks up to her. "Come on, I want to spend some alone time with you."  
  
"Sorry Pip, but we have work to do on the Gundam tomorrow morning, remember. So you're going to need your sleep." She turns back to unpacking her suitcase.  
  
"So you're really staying."  
  
"Well, yeah, I'm helping with the Tallgeese am I not?"  
  
"Riding a Gundam is a man's job not a woman and especially not for a little girl." He crosses his arms confident.  
  
"And I'm assuming that goes for little boys as well."  
  
"Yes only a man can ride a Gundam."  
  
"Well, since we both can't use it there's no use in fighting over it." She stops unpacking after stuffing a few things in the dresser and dumping the suitcase on the floor.  
  
"What! What did you call me?" He looks at her angry. Sophia faces him with a smirk.  
  
"You heard me! You're just as much of a kid as I am. Do you know how to look at death in the face! It's much different than any training simulation! ... anyway I know how to handle the system I have to pilot it." "You're just a girl; how do you-"  
  
"I made it Pip! Yeah, you heard me I'm the one who developed that horrible system in Tallgeese and if something happens to this one I have a back up Gundam thanks to the help of Instructor H."  
  
"You, you made another Gundam, but why. Gundams can't be destroyed."  
  
"Everything has its limits, Pip, I'm just thinking ahead; just in case... besides if I don't pilot it, Wufei will."  
  
He puts a hand on her shoulder. "You're always thinking ahead, Sophia. You're a strangest Chinese girl I've ever met and the most beautiful."  
  
She pushes his hand off. "I'm more American then I am Chinese, Pip, and I'm to busy with Tallgeese to even consider boys right now."  
  
"Come on, Sophia, you're the only girl without a boyfriend.  
  
"Boyfriend nothing! They're future husbands that's what I see and I'm not ready to even think about that kind of stuff. I saw what happened to Wufei and my father, ok; I don't want to be forced to marry anyone. And I don't care about my rep here; all those girls do is gossip anyway."  
  
He looks at her strange a moment. "You know you remind me of Mulan. Are you sure you're not a descendant."  
  
"If I am, la de da for me."  
  
"I was . . . kind of hoping you'd be . . . my girlfriend, Sophia." Sophia looks at him surprised a moment.  
  
"Wow, Pip, I . . . I don't know what to say." He gives her a long kiss on the lips before she could say anything more.  
  
"Just say yes you will and I'll be happy." Sophia looks slightly uneasy.  
  
"Sorry, Pip, but I can't say yes. I like someone else and besides you're too possessive. I'd feel like a fox trapped in its fox hole."  
  
"Why is it that you're so stubborn?! I gave you everything you wanted and you still say no!"  
  
"Wrong Pip, you gave me everything a girl would want not a tomboy. I told you straight up I don't love you plus we're too young. I'm only 12. What are you stupid?"  
  
Putting a hand on her shoulder, "I just want to make you see that I care about you." He moves his face close to hers, but she pushes him away.  
  
"Geeze, leave me alone already!"  
  
Wufei exits the training room and enters the hallway. I guess I should go see if Sophia's settled in yet. He stops at Sophia's door. I had better take a shower first. She might say something. He starts to leave.  
  
"AAAHH! Stop it!" There is a loud crash in the room as Wufei turns the doorknob on the door, but when it wouldn't open he breaks the door down. Pip tries to pry the closet door open, but he stops as they make eye contact as.  
  
He smiles at Wufei, as though reading his mind, then exits the room closing the door behind him. Wufei goes to the closet and opens the door. "Sophia?" Out of the corner of his eye, he sees something move. Moving towards it, he sees its Sophia curled up in a ball. She looks up at him as he kneels next to her. "Are you, ok, Sophia?"  
  
Her eyes begin to water as she looks into his. She closes her eyes and the tears spill onto her face as she shakes her head. "No." To his surprise, she hugs him and cries in his arms.  
  
"Sophia, What-?" he stops himself when he sees her shirt is shredded, and that she was shaking like a frightened kitten.  
  
"You can share a room with me, night," he says after she calmed down some. He carries her out of the closet.  
  
"My tiger," Shattered on the floor is a glass figuring.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Sophia; I can get you another one."  
  
"Thanks, Wufei... your timing has always been perfect," she says as he caries her out of the room. "Oh and Wufei."  
  
"Hum."  
  
"Take a bath, man, you reek. I feel like I'm being smothered by sweaty gym socks."  
  
~~~~~ Flash ~~~~~  
  
"Wufei, Wufei what's the matter"?  
  
"Hum"? He turns to face Sally sitting beside him on the shuttle.  
  
"You normally don't space out on me. Are you feeling ok"?  
  
"Just remembering something about when Sophia finally moved into the temple to get away from her stepmother a while."  
  
"Did something bad happen"?  
  
"I think Pip tried to rape Sophia, but I'm not sure because she never really told me what happened. I barged in before anything bad happened."  
  
"Was she ok."  
  
"Yes, but she was badly shaken by it. Sometimes she still has nightmares."  
  
"Why are you thinking about this now"?  
  
"You know Officer Tembo? He's Pip."  
  
"That explains why you weren't so happy to see him." Just then, an announcement came on.  
  
"Ladies and Genital men it seems a neighboring shuttle needs help so we're going to board those people on this shuttle which will take no more than 30 minutes tops." There is a series of groans from the other passengers. "I know I know."  
  
As the passengers begin to board, the shuttle Relena noticing them sits next to them. "Why, hello Sally, Wufei. How are you"?  
  
"We're great so, how's you Terror Forming Project going"?  
  
"I'm actually going to see Mr. Winner about the type of building I want him to build for it."  
  
"Hey! Wufei, I missed you!"  
  
"Shimi"?  
  
"Yes, Wufei its Shimi, the Tiger Goddess and how is the lone wolf, or should I say king of dragons." She stands next to his seat.  
  
"I thought you were dead."  
  
"Oh, really. Well that's too bad," She sighs and looks up at the ceiling and thinks for a moment before asking, "So how's Sophia doing"?  
  
"That's what we'd like to know. She has been missing for about half a year."  
  
"Whoa, she did another disappearing act, huh. I bet this time she's going to be harder to find then the last time she played tag with her." She smiles.  
  
"So, you grew up with her." Sally asks curious.  
  
"Yeah, she's great. Just don't get her angry or she'll be hard to manage." Shimi sticks her hands in pockets. "Honestly, I haven't seen her since our last ..."  
  
Sally gets suspicious because of the way she stopped herself. "Your last, what"?  
  
"Uh, don't mind me; how about you. Is this your girlfriend, Wufei"? She changes the subject a little too quickly.  
  
"I believe Sally asked you a question, Shimi; are you not telling us something?"  
  
"You actually think I'd keep something from you, Wufei"? Uneasily, she turns away as the other pilots finally board the shuttle. Catching a glimpse of Trowa, she forgot about Wufei and Sally. "Oh, it's that cute guy from before," she begins to blush as he comes near.  
  
Shimi and Trowa's eyes meet as he makes it to them, "Hello, Trowa, what a pleasant surprise. Still haven't found Fox yet." Sally says pleasantly still noticing how quickly Shimi's attitude changed.  
  
"We think maybe Quatre can get a lead on him." Trowa glances away from Shimi, but only for a second.  
  
Fox, he's looking for Fox. "Crap... man!" Everyone stares at her. Wufei is now even more suspicious as she blushes. "Sorry, uh go on ha, ha." I guess now should be a good time. Suddenly there is a giant explosion. 


	7. Tragedy Strikes for Quatre

Gundam Wing Episode 7 * Tragedy Strikes for Quatre* 7:30am  
  
Tikki comes dancing out of his room with headphones that looked more like a bike helmet, but it covered his entire face down to his nose. Quatre exits his room dress in his usual brown suit attire. "Tikki?" he sighs half laughing. Tikki has his video player on again.  
  
"Let get to me, I'm just creep down in Pumpkin Hill. I gatta find my lost piece." Tikki raps and dances in his direction as Rashid exits his room. "I know that it's here I sense it in my feet, that great emeralds power allows me to feel."  
  
"Don't worry Quatre; I'll take care of this one."  
  
"Rashid, I'm starting to think you're enjoying this."  
  
"Tikki!" Rashid yells waking everyone in the mansion, but Tikki keeps going as not hearing his name.  
  
"Careful Rashid, you might end up dancing with him like last time."  
  
"I can't see a thing, but it's around somewhere. I gatta hold to hold my head I have no fear." Rashid snatches it of his head. "HEY!" "Oh hi, Rashid," Tikki looks up at him.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you? When you use your CD Video Player close your door."  
  
"You actually want me to count. Ok there was that time I .," He thinks back, but Rashid stops the thinking process by slamming the video player on his head while twisting it.  
  
"Just because you're the youngest doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."  
  
"Thanks for the warning," pulls the CD Video Player off his head, "Next time, can you please not mess up my hair?" Rashid gives him another look, "Ok, ok I'm going." I wish he'd just tell people he likes her instead of just sending me all the time. He walks off slightly annoyed.  
  
"I wish he'd behave more."  
  
"You know he's just playing Rashid. I'm glad to see he's feels at home here."  
  
"If you can call it that," Rashid sighs, "What he needs is a girl so he won't be so wild."  
  
"Hello, Ms. Taichi." Tikki walks in with a dozen red roses and sets them down on the dresser as Ms. Taichi applies her makeup.  
  
"Let me guess, Rashid." She continues what she is doing without looking up. Tikki looks at her through the mirror putting his hands behind his head. Hiyami finally realizes that Tikki hasn't left, yet. "What are you doing"?  
  
"Nothing really, just thinking"  
  
"Ok kid, I don't give tips." She puts down her eyeliner and looks him in the eye for a moment. He just shrugs and leaves the room. He has to be up to something. She watches him leave. It's time to go to work. She opens her drawer and takes out a gun and a few bottles. After stuffing them in her purse, she leaves the room to meets up with Rashid.  
  
Tikki watches Rashid and Hiyami go into a limo and leave the premises. Won't she be surprised once she finds out there's no bullets in her gun. He turns on the heal of his shoe and satisfied walks back to Hiyami's room, but before he could even touch the doorknob Quatre turns the corner surprised to see Tikki at Hiyami's door. "Hell, Oooh, Mr. Winner, how are you this fine day."  
  
"What are you doing?" He half laughs at him. "Don't tell me you still get lost after a month Tikki."  
  
"I-know-where-the-kitchen-is." His eyes roll up in his head as though he was trying to read a map in his head. Tikki walks quickly past Quatre turns the corner plowing into a girl. "Oh, I'm so-" he stops his eyes growing wide in surprise as her black eyes mirror his. Her long coal black hair touches her thighs. The slit of her green and red rose print dress started halfway towards her knee.  
  
"That's quite alright." Tikki looks at her up and down.  
  
His left eye begins to twitch obviously showing his anger rise. "You are not. wearing that! You can't be wearing that; I am. going to pretend, I didn't see that."  
  
"Do you not like my dress?" she looks at Tikki slightly confused.  
  
"Oh, you know what you did, missy! It's on now."  
  
"Sophia, do you know Tikki?" Quatre looks back and forth at both Tikki and Sophia.  
  
"Yeah, you can say that. You can say we're like family." Tikki walks off fuming going to his room closing the door. He snatches his laptop off his dresser and leaves the room again.  
  
Making sure no one saw him, Tikki started down the stares to the third floor, but as he starts down for the second floor jumps on the rail deciding it was faster that way as a small group of Maganacs started up the stares. "Hey Tikki, what's your hurry"?  
  
"Can't talk now, gotta go!" Tikki slides to a stop in front of a surprised golden rod haired woman. "Hello Ms. Iria Winner; by any chance you'll let a guy borrow a computer." He jumps off the railing and bows to her.  
  
Afmahd glances at his watch. I guessing Rashid and Hiyami won't be back until about one. He makes it to Quatre's office and knocks on the door. "Master Quatre, I'd like to have a word with you."  
  
"Come on in Afmahd." He hesitates a moment before opening the door because he didn't recognize Quatre's voice right away. It wasn't his normal happy self and as he gets a good view of the office he understands why. The office looked like a tornado hit it. There was papers everywhere, knocked over cabinets with its contents spilled everywhere, and a frustrated Quatre who was plucking folders from under the broken glass.  
  
"Master Quatre, are you ok?" as though on impulse he immediately starts to help.  
  
"Yes, but I can't say the same for my office." He sighs as he stands up and surveys the mess. Quatre walks to his desk the lock to his desk was blown off. They must have used a silencer. Pulling it open, he checks it. He slams his palms on his desk and let his head hang. "They took everything."  
  
"Well, maybe they didn't take it all, Master." Afmahd puts a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Maybe you're right." Quatre turns and dusts the glass off his chair then sits in it. He feels under his desk. "Ah." He pulls his hand out quickly as he cuts his hand on something sharp. Afmahd takes off his belt and wraps Quatre's hand with it as they both look under the desk. Afmahd pulls out a large peace of glass that seemed to have wedged itself into the tinny camera of the desk. Who ever did this studied the layout of my office well.  
  
"Master we have to get your hand checked out."  
  
"Ok" Quatre gets up and they exit the office. When they made it to the first floor, Quatre sends someone to clean up the mess.  
  
"Quatre, what happened to your hand"? He turns to see Sophia as a car pulls up in the driveway.  
  
"It's nothing really just cut it on some glass." Auda gets out of the driver's seat and opens the passenger's seat for Quatre.  
  
"Mr. Winner, it's best to go and make sure you're hands ok." Sophia jumps in the back seat with Quatre as they drive to the hospital.  
  
@_@ Shimi opens her eyes in surprise and sits up. Am I actually still alive? She stands up wobbly. Looking around she sees that everyone was either holding there head in pain, knocked out of their seat, or knocked out. Well, I thought I stopped the bomb from blowing up. Oops, I forgot to get those two guys I tied in the bathroom. oh well, they were trying to kill me anyway.  
  
"Shimi!" Wufei looks at her angrily as he picks himself off the floor. Everyone begins to stare.  
  
"What! Why is that when something blows up it's my fault!" He looks at her even more suspicious then before. Shimi jumps on the top of the chair as Wufei tries to catch her. Digging in her pockets, she begins to throw the contents inside at him and any one who came close to her which happened to be mostly food consisting of mostly little cups of jello, pudding cups, and little bags of peanuts.  
  
"Hey, hey just settle down, Shimi." How did she able to fit all that in your pocket? Duo dodges a few cups of jello.  
  
"We just want to talk to you since you seem to know something about that explosion that just happened. Just calm down, we are not here to hurt you." Sally stays put since that was the only way not to get something thrown her way.  
  
Shimi digs in her pocket again only to realize she had nothing left to throw. Her eyes begin to water and she burst into tears. "Can't you at least attempt to trust me, Wufei?" Wufei's face stares at her unchanged as a response he jumps after her. Shimi dodges easily jumping from one chair to another like a cat. Wufei follows her as best as weightlessness would allow him.  
  
"Hey wait up Wufei." Duo was a close second as he dodges a few dinner trays that flew his way.  
  
Bathroom, bathroom, gotta find a bathroom. Bingo! Shimi picks the lock on the bathroom door after throwing a few more trays trough the curtains she closed to slow them down. She gets in and closes the door just as Duo and Wufei pass by. She waits a while. "Yes!" Shimi turns around to see Heero staring as though he was waiting. "No!"  
  
*~* Hiyami and Rashid exit the restaurant together as the limo drives up, but instead of going to the limo, she grabs him by the arm into an ice cream store. She orders strawberry ice cream then turns to Rashid. "Don't you want some ice cream for dessert"?  
  
"No thank you Hiyami. I'm full from the lunch we had." She opens her purse and begins to search for her money.  
  
"Don't bother Hiyami. I'll pay for it."  
  
"Oh, you don't have to do that for me, Rashid."  
  
"It's nothing really, I insist." He takes his wallet out of his back pocket and turns to pay for the ice cream.  
  
An evil smile forms on her face as she grips the trigger of the gun in her purse. She pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. Thinking she might have just put three bullets in the gun, she fires it repeatedly getting the same results. Why isn't it firing?  
  
"Here you go Hiyami." Rashid hands her the ice cream as she closes her purse slightly frustrated as she takes the ice cream and forces a smile.  
  
^~^ "Confidential files please enter password to enter." Tikki types in Osprey and gets in easily. That was too easy. "We have no information on Niko Nightwind except that his gender is unknown and Niko causes more trouble for Black Zoë a rival to Osprey."  
  
"Great, the one thing I want I can't find. Black Zoë sounds interesting." Tikki thinks to himself as types in a few more things before something else interesting pops up. Curious he opens it.  
  
"Fox considered lethal to the Osprey cause and is ordered to be eliminated on the spot or brought in to find the whereabouts of Sophia Dragon." Tikki connects his laptop to the computer and turns it on.  
  
Wow, what a nice file they have on me. I wonder what would happen if. After opening a file called mischievous fox, he then e-mails it to the sight. Suddenly a black fox with big blue eyes pops up on the website. It gets an evil smile and the eyes change from blue to red and all information is quickly deleted in a flash. Oops, there goes all that info. He smiles unhooking his laptop and quickly exits the sight. Now, let us see all the fuss about this Black Zoë is all about.  
  
Tikki sits back in his chair satisfied with his work as he hacks into the Preventers main computer. "You have one minute to input a password or your accesses will be terminated." All right a challenge. Tikki thinks for a moment then types something in. "Your password is incorrect please try again."  
  
Having ten seconds left Tikki types in Pilot 05 and was about to press enter when Professor G pops up on the computer screen. "Fox, I have some information that might be-"  
  
His eyes grow big. "Nooo! What are you doing get off!" he cut the screen in half, but it was too late cut off. Tikki got off so as not to be traced. "Whaat do you waaant!" he wines as he puts his chin on the keyboard covering his head with his hands.  
  
"If you're going to be rude about it you can forget about it."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I told you not to call me when I'm on the internet, remember."  
  
"Quit sulking you'll get another chance. It's about Mariemaia's birthday party."  
  
"What about it."  
  
"They'll be expecting you there. You be careful; Osprey has entered infiltrated the police so be careful who you trust."  
  
"Do come home and get some rest when you're done with Black Panther." Dr. S yells from behind Professor G.  
  
"Ok, I promise, but only after the birthday party." The screen turns off and Tikki gets up from the computer grabbing his laptop. He stops in his tracks; he turns his head sharply catching a glimpse of someone at the door. Running to the door, he throws it open looking both ways down the halls. Ok someone was here and I'm going to find out who.  
  
He turns the nearest corner ending in the waiting room and sees Quatre and Iria walking his way. "Tikki, why are you here?"  
  
"Me, I was just looking for a birthday present for a kid I know, that's all. What happened to your hand Mr. Winner." He looks down at the blood stained cloth around his hand.  
  
"I just had a small accident in my office, that's all. It seems that someone has stolen a bunch of important papers." Quatre looks a little upset as he mentions it and gives a sigh.  
  
"Really, well if you need any help in trying to find the person I'm willing to help." Tikki lets them walk on before deciding to stay with him.  
  
Now, I'm going to have to start from scratch with that new computer system I designed for the Terraforming Project. Quatre looks up at Tikki as he wraps an arm around his shoulder.  
  
"Don't look like a sad puppy. I promise you you'll find them, again. Anyway if you keep worrying about it you'll drive yourself crazy." As they enter a room, Tikki watches Quatre's sister bandage his hand a while before snooping around the room. Taking two gloves, he blows them up.  
  
"Tikki, what are you doing." Quatre watch him twist the ends of the gloves.  
  
"Trying to make you feel better," Taking a glove in each hand, he places on each side of his head. "I'm Mickey Mouse. A greatly deformed Mickey Mouse, but Mickey Mouse none the less." Just as Quatre finally begins to lighten up, Auda runs into the room practically out of breath.  
  
"Mater Quatre, there's been an accident at the construction sight."  
  
Quatre looks at him surprised at the sudden horrible news. "What happened? Is anyone hurt?"  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Abdul looks up at the building structure then looks at the guys behind him. "Ok, men we're going to start putting the glass in on the higher levels, today."  
  
They climb the stares with the glass they had and separated going to the forth, fifth, and sixth floor. A few stayed below waiting for the shipment of extra glass since a there was a mix up in shipments. They began work with fitting the glass in the windows when one of the guys decided to take an early snack. Abdul glances over catching him in the act.  
  
"Hey! What did I tell you about eating early?" he starts to walk toward him the floor boards begin to creak. "If Rashid was here-" he stops when he sees many tiny holes in the floor from the focus of the light from the glass that was being put in. "Hold it, no one move." With a heavy enough lode you'll fall straight though.  
  
"What's the matter Abdul?" Just then, they hear the screeching of metal above them.  
  
He takes out his walky-talky, "Aladdin, get off the sixth floor." He shakes it when it doesn't work then opens the back. "Who's job was it to check the batteries!" They looks at each other a moment.  
  
"I did, but after I changed them Hiyami expected them in case I missed any."  
  
"Hiyami checked-" Abdul was cut off with a loud slam then something big came crashing down from above. "Hey is everyone ok up there?"  
  
"Yeah, Aladdin dropped the glass, but I have to tell you that glass new glass we got is heavier then the shipment we got yesterday."  
  
"That's great. Hey! Is everyone ok on the forth floor!"  
  
"Yeah, just a little shaken up."  
  
"I want everyone out of this building. It's been tampered with and be careful." They all make it to the door and start down the stares, but Abdul makes sure everyone was out each room before going down himself. He soon caught up where the others were on the stares when there's a sequence of giant explosions on the eighth floor. The building begins to collapse.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Abdul and a few others are hurt pretty badly. Some were lucky to get out with a few burses and scraps." Quatre gets up from where he was sitting. "So far no one's been killed that we know of."  
  
"Quatre, please I'm not finished yet."  
  
Quatre sits down uneasy. He looks to the floor horrified and slightly relived at the same time. Who's doing this and why? Do I have an enemy, somewhere? Quatre looks up again. "Where are they now?"  
  
"There at Jefferson Hospital that isn't to far from here." 


	8. The Assassins' end

Disclaimer: Sorry I haven't been writing these, but I couldn't really think of anything to write. I don't own any of the characters except Officer Tembo, Li, Shimi, Fox, and Sophia. Before any of you guys get on my case I received permission from Niko Nightwind herself that I can put her in my story. Just read she's more of a recurring character, but she's important.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 8 *The Assassins' End* 9:45am  
  
Shimi stares stone faced at her captors bound hand and foot. Duo drops in a seat to rest still amazed by how long it took to get her tied. It took them all about half an hour to get all the ropes on which Sally, the only one who wasn't tired, made secure. Even Trowa who was like a statue half the time looked tired. "Just tell us what you know about that explosion and we'll let you go."  
  
Shimi just looks in his direction without saying a word. Wufei watches Shimi carefully as he crises his arms. "Shimi tell us what you know."  
  
"I'm not talking to you."  
  
"Why?" Wufei says fed up with her.  
  
"Because you pulled my hair." Shimi looks angrily at Wufei.  
  
"It was the only way to keep you still."  
  
"But you didn't have to pull that hard." Shimi's eyes turn glassy as she says it. "I swear you and Sophia are both a like when it comes to my hair. Now apologize." Wufei scoffs at her.  
  
"Wufei just apologize or we'll be here all day."  
  
He glances over at Sally. "I don't apologize-"  
  
"Oh yeah that's right you don't." Shimi interrupts him before he could finish. "You still haven't said you were sorry to Sophia. Shattering Sophia when you betrayed her probably wasn't enough for you. I found her crying, Wufei." Wufei looks at Shimi slightly surprised. "You know it takes a lot to make her cry." Wufei tries hard not to show his anger towards Shimi. "I don't even know why she bothers looking up to you."  
  
Wufei gets up and angrily leaves the room. "Wufei wait!" Sally calls after him.  
  
I think that jerk deserves everything he gets. Shimi smiles satisfied with her actions.  
  
"Do you think he did it on purpose? Yeah, he's proud and his worst problem is his pride. So he made a few mistakes. He's only human. You weren't there when he lost his friends, family, and his home. How would you know what kind of pain Wufei had to suffer through? He at least learns from his mistakes and I am proud of him because of that." Sally angry gets up and leaves to try to find Wufei.  
  
"I'd have to say, that was the first time I've ever seen Sally angry." Duo says breaking the long awkward silence.  
  
Wow, I've never heard anyone stick up for Wufei before, besides Sophia. "Damn it, now I feel bad." Shimi says as she lets her upper body rest on her legs letting her arms dangle freely on either side. The others turn with her sudden comment. "Oh, don't get up. I'm not going anywhere Lion Heart." Shimi says smugly to Trowa.  
  
"I believe an apology is in order." Trowa's face unchanging looks Shimi in the eyes after she had untied her legs and was sitting up.  
  
They stare at each other for what seemed like an hour before Shimi broke the silence. "Fine, do you two feel the same way as well."  
  
"Yes" They look at Duo waiting for his reply.  
  
"Yeah of course, he might be a little offensive at times, but he always seems to know what's going on before anyone else does."  
  
"So, you're all friends of Wufei. Ok, where do you want me to start?"  
  
:( Quatre watches Afmahd quietly as he lies in a coma in the hospital bed. He sighs and sadly leaves the room where Hiyami, Rashid, Auda, Abdul, and Tikki greet him with sympathy. "Master Quatre, how is he?"  
  
"The doctor says they don't know how long he'll be that way." Quatre looks to the floor his eye suddenly lost in pool of self-pity. "I should have been there."  
  
"Quatre you know you can't be everywhere at once." Rashid gently squeezes his shoulder as they all sit down on a bench outside Afmahd's room.  
  
"I know, but." He squeezes his eye close and tears begin to flow, "if I had just gone to the sight instead of my office then-"  
  
"Then, what Mr. Winner," Quatre opens his eyes surprised to hear a stern voice talking to him. He looks at Tikki as he stands up listening. "Be in the same state as Afmahd or even worse dead. I don't think that would help the situation. Come on, everybody here knows you couldn't do anything so why pout over it. No use crying over spilt milk." Everyone's quiet mostly in shock to hear anything like that come from Tikki.  
  
Quatre gives a small smile. "You're right, Tikki. You're very wise for your age."  
  
Tikki sticks his hand behind his head. "Hey thanks," Tikki blushes as a loud roar escapes from his stomach, "So, who's up for breakfast, or is it brunch, now? Ah who cares, I'm hungry. You've got money. Let's go eat." Tikki bows and looks up at Quatre. "After you Mr. Winner."  
  
"That's ok Tikki, I'm not hungry. You and the guys go and eat."  
  
"Are you sure master Quatre?" Abdul says unsure.  
  
"Yes, I'll be ok here and Rashid." Rashid stands up as though called on in a classroom. "I want you to keep an eye on the others for me. If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone for a while." Quatre stands up and enters Afmahd's room again. Everyone hesitates before leaving him by himself. Hiyami stays and watches Quatre walk to the window.  
  
You and Afmahd are the only ones who haven't fallen for me yet. She looks at Afmahd on the bed and smiles. He's been taken care of, now how am I going to get you, Mr. Winner?  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ Hiyami walks into Quatre's office. "Did you want to see me Mr. Winner?" Quatre looks up from his half-finished work on his desk.  
  
"Yes, I just wanted to see how the progress on the building is going? Did you bring the papers like I asked?" She hands him a folder and care fully swings next to him as he goes through them. "Quatre, you don't mind if I call you Quatre do you?"  
  
"Sure, I don't mind." He says not looking up at her as one of the papers catch his attention.  
  
"You've been stuck in this office all day." She gently puts her hands on his shoulders and begins to rub them. "You probably feel sore from being in this stuffy office all day. He looks up at her.  
  
"You don't have to-"  
  
"Nonsense, you work too hard. How about you take a little rest?" She pulls him to his feet after placing a hand on the papers.  
  
"Sorry Ms. Hiyami, I can't I still have a lot of work to-" She places a finger on his mouth to quiet him. She moves her finger away from his mouth and presses her body up to his. She was about to kiss him, but he moves away from her. "Ms. Hiyami, this isn't a good idea."  
  
She wraps her arms around his neck. "Come on, Quatre just relax. You're way to tense." She moves her face closer to his. "If you let me, I can help you relax." Quatre pulls away from her.  
  
"This isn't right and you know it."  
  
"Quatre, I-" Just then there's a knock on the door and Tikki enters.  
  
"Yes, Tikki" Quatre says relieved.  
  
"I'm, sorry am I interrupting something." Tikki looks confused a moment.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
I'm starting to get sick of this. She looks at Quatre again remembering what Li told her the last time she was able to find time to communicate with him.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ "How is your progress with Mr. Winner?" Li says leaning back in his chair relaxed as a girl puts a plate of food in front of him.  
  
"Um not so good. Opening doors, pulling out chairs, being polite, he acts like a saint. Nothing I've done has worked on you," she says uneasy knowing this would displease him.  
  
"What?" His eyes flicker yellow before going back to normal. "Every man has a weakness. You just haven't found it yet."  
  
"Believe me I've tried everything. He's a man with morals." Li looks at her a moment as thought thinking carefully to make sure he didn't say the wrong thing.  
  
"Ok, then," he sits up and looks at his food a moment. His hand changes into a claw as he takes his index finger and drives it into the meat, "forget about the plan and just kill him. Relena is going to be visiting soon as well. Kill her too, understand."  
  
"Ah, yes sir."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Remembering master Li's sharp claw like fingers made her shiver. Quatre stares out the window. Who would do this and why.  
  
"Are you sure, Quatre?" Quatre turns in surprise. "Sorry, Quatre, I didn't mean to startle you." Hiyami says at the door. She looks to the floor as though shy to make eye contact. "If you want, I can save you something."  
  
"Thank you, Ms. Taichi, but I'm not very hungry."  
  
"I'm, terribly sorry about what happened. Um, I wish I could do something."  
  
"That's very thoughtful of you." She looks up at him and smiles before leaving.  
  
There's something about Tikki that seems so, familiar. The way he acted just now. Quatre walks to the door and notices the laptop on the bench. He picks it up. "I'll have to give it back to him later." Wait maybe I can use it. He sits on the bench and turns on the laptop.  
  
@o@ "Where is it!" Tikki shreds through the car trunk after they arrived home. Rashid and the others watch helplessly as he practically rips the car apart. After he was finished, he backs away from the car and drops down defeated. "Did any of you guys see what I did with my laptop?"  
  
"No, Tikki, I'm sorry."  
  
His eyes turn glassy. "You haven't." his voices clear that he was upset. Where could it have gone?  
  
"Are you sure you took it with you?" Rashid says feeling sorry for him. "You could have left it in the house." Tikki's face lights up.  
  
"You think so." Rashid shakes his head handing him the keys to the mansion.  
  
"Just go inside and look for it." Rashid watches him jump and dash towards the house. "Just now he reminded me of a little boy who had just lost his puppy." It didn't take long for Tikki to rip though his room before starting on others.  
  
Everyone was kind enough to let him search his or her rooms except Sophia and Hiyami. Sophia gives Tikki a look of disgust as he stares at the wall devastated in his room. "Look at you crying over a laptop. It's obvious you act your shoe size."  
  
"For your information there was a lot of info in there and besides it was a birthday present."  
  
"What little respect you earned from me is now lost. Act your age!"  
  
"Acting 8 years younger then I am doesn't change that I'm a good warrior. Anyway, as soon as you actually stop Ninja who's conveniently in the basement; I wouldn't be talking, Niko Nightwind."  
  
"Baby" Niko mumbles as she walks away from him.  
  
"I heard that, Ms. Kokuei Nikomi Shayindu." She stops and turns at the sound of her name. "It's best if you move Sinahia and Jessie to another place."  
  
She turns "Are you threatening my family?"  
  
"Nope, just a fair warning, if it took me only a few days to find them and I'm not an expert hacker. They need a new hiding place." They look at each other a moment. Niko gives a wicked grin before heading for the door again.  
  
"If I see it, I'll try to remember to give it to you. You should keep a better eye on the person you're supposed to protect and I don't need your help."  
  
"You obviously do if you haven't taken him down yet." Fox taunt slightly.  
  
"You haven't exactly gotten rid of your assassin yet either."  
  
"I'll take care of her in the morning." Niko shakes her head and closes the door behind her. Taking Fox's hint goes for the basement.  
  
"And where do you think you're going" Niko says to his adversary just as he was about to exit. He looks up at Niko as he jumps down from one of the railing.  
  
"I'd have to say I wasn't expecting to see you Niko."  
  
"So, you've heard of me."  
  
"My superior has mentioned you." he takes out his sword and immediately attacks. Niko dodges easily, but couldn't get close enough to attack. Jumping backward into the wall, he quickly ties a dagger to the tip of his hair. As he pushes off the wall, he spins a few inches in the over the ninja's head acting like a temporary blade. Niko lands behind him.  
  
The ninja turns around to strike Niko. Blood starts to ooze from deep gashes in his head and neck, Niko watches as he drops his sword and falls to the floor dead. Niko turns sharply. "Oh, it's you." Niko turns away from Fox.  
  
"If you could beat him so easily, why did you wait?"  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be moping over your laptop of yours."  
  
"Why did you have to remind me?" Niko watches Fox walk off gloomy.  
  
One minute he's serious the next minute he's 8 years old. Niko shakes his head as he tends to the body. Maybe Shimi can get me some info on this guy.  
  
~o~ "You have the nerve to ask me for a favor after you haven't paid for the last time I help you." Howard says walking out of his office with Shimi trailing behind him.  
  
"Come on Howard, I'll get the money as soon as I find my partner. "No, Shimi, I can't do it." They stop in front of Duo and the others. "Duo, long time no see! How have you been?"  
  
"Howard please! I was in a coma for a while and got back most of my memory. Give me a break." Shimi clings to his arm pleading.  
  
"I fix machinery Shimi. I'm not a body guard!" Shimi lets go and wraps her arms around his neck.  
  
In a sweet voice, she says, "Please just until I find him and you'll get your money. What do you say?"  
  
"I have to say, you're nothing like your mother when it comes to paying her debts, Shimi." Shimi lets go angrily.  
  
"How much does she owe anyway? Maybe, I can help." Duo offers as Howard walks over to the computer next to him. It took a while, but the computer finally came out with the total, which was $250,000. Duo's eyes grow huge and he looks at Shimi. She just shrugs with an uneasy smile. "I can't do it, kid."  
  
She falls to her knees and cries. "Can't anybody help me!!!?"  
  
*_*; Tikki looks up at the ceiling his face looks like a puppy that has been yelled at by its owner. "Come on Tikki are you sure you checked everywhere" Rashid asks looking down at Tikki as he lies on the sofa downstairs.  
  
"Yes" he turns on his stomach and lets his arm dangle over the side. Sighing he leaves the room as the front door opens. Quatre enters.  
  
"Master Quatre you're back. Are you ok?"  
  
Quatre smiles at him a kind of sad smile. "I'll be ok, just tired, that's all." Rashid sees the laptop in Quatre's arms.  
  
"You wouldn't believe how much trouble Tikki went through to find that thing."  
  
"He left it on the bench in the hospital. Where is he?"  
  
He points to the room behind him. "Looking like a little boy who lost his favorite toy, we've had no playful activity for 7 hours."  
  
"It sound serious, I'll take it to him." He goes in and is surprised to see such a sad expression on Tikki's face. "Tikki, what's the matter."  
  
"My, my laptop's gone and I searched the whole mansion." His eyes turn glass.  
  
"I think I have something that belongs to you." Quatre show him the laptop and he looks up in astonishment. "You left it on the bench in the hospital." His eyes light up and he sits up taking the laptop out of Quatre's hands.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Winner. I don't know what to say. Tikki gets up and bows at Quatre.  
  
Suddenly Quatre gets a familiar feeling as Tikki blushes looking down at his laptop. Why do I have this feeling I've met you some where before, Tikki? "Your welcome, Tikki" Quatre watches him leave and eventually leaves himself to get some sleep.  
  
!_! The door to Quatre's bedroom opens slowly and closes soon after. The only visible evidence that something had entered the room was two glowing, orange eyes in the dark room. It moves swiftly to the slumbering Quatre. A few low growls escape it waking him slowly.  
  
His eyes grow wide in surprise as it leaps on him. Quatre pushes its snapping jaws away from his neck. Thinking fast he shifts the weight of the beast to one hand and desperately feels for anything that might save his life. His arm begins to burn from fatigue. At the last second, he snatches what felt like a pen and stabs it in the neck. He loses sight of it over the side of the bed.  
  
He rest for a while listening after throwing his sheets off his body. Quatre moves toward his lamp by his bed thinking it would be easier to be able to see what he was fighting then to fight blind. That's when he saw the orange eyes appear on the foot of the bed. It lunges at Quatre and he barely dodges it. He shutters at the sound of the exploding bedpost at the beast rips through it.  
  
Quatre takes his sheets and ties it up in them. Jumping off the bed, he turns on the light to survey his catch. He looks at his bed to see a mangled mess of wood splinters with his broken bedpost, blood, but no beast. He stares in disbelief as his heart races. "Goodbye Mr. Winner it was nice knowing you."  
  
He turns to face the person speaking, "Hiyami, wha"  
  
"I just came to say goodbye." He suddenly feels uneasy realizing she was naked and turns his head from her.  
  
"Ms. Hiyami please put some clothes on this is indecent." She walks to him her smile crooked.  
  
"I'm not staying for long. You can't even look at me. I never met a boy like you. lest look me in the face, Quatre."  
  
"Ms. Taichi please leave at once." Quatre says looking into her eyes. Her eyes flicker orange like a light about to burn out which caught his attention.  
  
"You found your panther." She says as she grabs hold of his neck before he could make a move. She spins the bloodied pen in her other hand. "You know what goes around comes around, Mr. Winner."  
  
Quatre tries to pull her hands from his neck, but it was like a shackle. She was that animal that attacked me earlier, but how? That doesn't make any sense. Hiyami slams him into his dresser mirror across the room. The glass shatters.  
  
"If you scream I'll kill everyone in this mansion." She says squeezing his neck. "It would have been better if you just fell for me. Never mind I think I will kill them all after all. I got tired of going on all those dates with Rashid, anyway." In Hiyami's now fully orange eyes he could see himself and the clock on the wall read 1:15.  
  
Still dazed from being slammed into the grass, he continues to try to pry her hand from his neck. She digs her nails into his neck. He begins to pull harder as her nails actually begin to grow into his neck. "AAHHH!" His eyes begin to grow wide as his hands begin to slip off from the steady stream of blood flowing from his neck. Her claws were now to deep in his neck to pull out on his own.  
  
His hands begin to weaken and soon fall to his sides unmoving. The life from his blue-green eyes fades as her nails finally reach the other side of his neck.  
  
@o~ Fox's eye's open and he quickly jumps out of bed. He glances at the clock as he leaves his room. It read 1:10.  
  
~_~; It lunges at Quatre and he barely dodges it. He shutters at the sound of the exploding bedpost at the beast rips through it. As the beast turns to jump at Quatre again a second beast with deep bright blue eyes, jump the orange eyes. There's a loud roar of pain as it shook the other off. Orange eyes shifts its attention to blue eyes and they pounce at each other.  
  
They sounded like a panther and a small dog fighting as Quatre slides of his bed, but stops when he hears the whimpering of a dog. Orange eye climbs over the side of the bed as Quatre backs up into his dresser. Where did these animals come from? It leaps at him. He quickly grabs the clock off his dress and closes his eyes as he hits it with it.  
  
He races for the door, but trips over something big and warm on the floor as orange eyes leaps on Quatre pinning him to the floor. Quatre braces himself for the teeth of the beast to rip into his neck. Just as its teeth begin to clamp down there's a mild jerk. The glow form blue eyes, eyes mixed with orange eyes showed that blue eyes had orange eyes by the neck.  
  
Blood drips from its neck staining Quatre's nightclothes and skin around his neck red. Furious orange eyes slashes blue eyes across the face. Blue eyes mimics the attack. He repeats the attack getting orange eyes off Quatre. Blue eye lets go and dodges another clawing. They shoot at each other. They resemble two large dogs fighting over territory.  
  
Quatre's neck starts to burn in places. He gets up slowly feeling exhausted noticing orange eyes being to fade. Just then the lights turn. "Master Quatre we heard." They stop when they the blood stained Quatre. "Master, are you, ok?!"  
  
"It's ok I'm fine thanks to." They turn to see an animal the size of a Doverman Pincher with unusually long ears almost that of a rabbit. It was solid black with its paws and the tip of its tail orange. By looking at it you'd think some one inverted the fox. "This animal her, I'm glad to see you are all ok."  
  
Its eyes however turned black when the lights were turned on. In its mouth it held a dead panther by the neck. "So, you killed a panther." Rashid says moving toward it. The fox drops the panther and starts yelping at him backing up from him. Surprised he stops as it bears it's fangs at him. Across its face is three claw marks. Some of the fur and skin were hanging off its neck. Its neck or what was left of it and around it was a deep red.  
  
Quatre walks over seeing the wounds and it starts to growl again. "It's ok, I won't hurt you." he ignores the growls going right up to it. There eyes meet as the fox stops growling and its ears droop. He places a hand on its head and looks at its neck. It whimpers moving its head from under his hand and lies down placing his head on his paws continuing to whimper. "Those injures look pretty bad. Call a vet, please Rashid." 


	9. A Lot Can Happen in a Few Minutes

Disclaimer: Officer Tembo, Li, Shimi, Fox, and Sophia are all my characters. Before any of you guys get on my case I received permission from Niko Nightwind herself that I can put her in my story. So. BACK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 9 *A Lot Can Happen in a Few Minutes* 11:45am  
The black fox walk jumps on the bed in which Quatre is sleeping on and paws at the covers. Quatre turns over in his bed in response still asleep. It whimpers before lying down next to him resting it's head on it's paws. White bandages wrap it's neck like a collar. The scratch on its face had finally stopped bleeding. Fox looks at Quatre and sighs. "Mr. Winner I have the feeling. you're going to be the end of me." The fox whimpers again. Fox looks up when he hears voices outside the door.  
  
^*~; Quatre stirs when something cold touches his nose. "So, you decided to come back after all." As he scratches the fox's head and its ears shoot up, but it stays in the same position. How can you be so ferocious one minute and so placid the next?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Come on, we're just going to take you downstairs and get a better look at your neck ok ," a girl in a says softly to the fox under Mr. Winner's bed. She sighs when all she got was a yelp from under the bed. She looks up at Quatre. "And you say you have no idea to where the animal came from."  
  
"No, this is the first time I've ever seen it" Quatre kneels next to her looking under the bed. The fox camouflaged with darkness under the bed. The only indication that it was under the bed was its glowing blue eyes . "How's your neck?" Quatre feels his bandaged neck as he sits cross legged. The fox pokes its head from under the bed as though curious for Quatre's answer.  
  
"Oh, I'll be fine, the teeth didn't sink in as deep as was thought. Your partner said it should heal in a couple of days." It sits in front of him as though ready to have a conversation. "So, now you come out." The lady's deep brown eyes grow wide seeing the size of the fox then still a little shaken takes the chance to get a good look at its neck.  
  
"This neck needs to be tended to immediately." She says lifting a piece of skin that was hanging off it's neck. She takes out the first aid kit and starts to sterilize it wounds.  
  
"Is it serious?" Quatre watches as she starts to bandage its neck.  
  
"Well, normally if we bandage a wound like this it will heal without a problem, but it depends on the animal. from by the way she's acting, she's a fast healer."  
  
"Hey, sis did you get that fox out from under that bed yet?" the boy stops in his tracks. His brown eyes grow large in shock at the size of the fox. ".And I thought the cage was too big." The fox's head jerks in his direction at the sound of his voice.  
  
"Just bring the cage over here." He hesitates before walking into the room and as he approached the fox started to snarl at him. The boy stops.  
  
"Ok, now what do we do?" he asks his sister as the fox stands on all fours. The boy takes a step back. "It's ok they're just here to help you." The fox looks at Quatre a moment quickly loses interest in the boy returning to it's calm state. Then as though seeing the bandages for the first time, it grabs a hold of the bandage that trailed from its neck to the roll the girl had in her hand. They pull on each end starting a game of tug of war.  
  
"Now, Brandon! While she's distracted!" He takes out a muzzle, but as he gets near her face bandage rips and the fox quickly turns her attention to Brandon. She bites his hand and jumps on him snarling.  
  
"Sarani, get her off of me!" he says as he pushes the snapping jaws of fox away from him. As Sarani got close the fox turns unexpectedly and bits her in her neck then jerks her forward. It turns it's attention to Quatre who has was now shielding the brother and sister from another attack.  
  
"Sarani, are you ok?" Brandon asks helping his sister up.  
  
"Yeah, she only snagged my collar."  
  
"Just calm down" Quatre slowly goes on his knees in front of the snarling fox. He holds out his hand to pet her. "It's ok." She calms down and sniffs his hand. Without warning she clamps down on his hand and jerks him forward. "Ah!" he hit the floor surprisingly hard then was dragged to the door before she decided to release his hand.  
  
The fox disappears in the darkness of the hallway. Brandon and Sarani race to a shaken Quatre. "Mr. Winner, are you, ok?" Brandon looks at his hand as his sister goes to the door and looks in the direction in which the fox ran.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine." Brandon helps him up.  
  
"How's his hand?" Sarani turns back to her brother.  
  
"Would you believe there's not even a scratch?" flabbergasted by her brother's answer she looks at his hand herself. "Looks like you might have a guardian angel looking after you."  
  
Bewildered she shrugs, "Well, it is possible she didn't want to leave because she had pups hidden somewhere. She must feel that she has to protect you because you own the place." He looks into the darkened hallway again.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where did you come from in time to save me, huh?" just then the door opens and Rashid comes in.  
  
"I see you're finally awake, Quatre." The doorway fills with curious Maganacs. Seeing them Quatre greets then with a smile as Rashid walks up to him.  
  
"Who turned off my alarm?" Quatre asks sitting up when he saw his clock.  
  
"I did" Quatre looks up at Rashid surprised. "You needed the rest, Quatre. we all can see that you're tired." The fox jumps off the bed as Rashid sits next to Quatre. "Have you considered having a vacation?"  
  
"A vacation...? No not really."  
  
~*~  
  
Master Li walks to down a long hall to his office. Walking in, he sits down at his desk. Placing his elbow on the armrest he places his head in his hand leaning on it. He glances up noticing the computer was on. Hum, mother must be using my office again. He doesn't give it another thought. Sophia, Sophia, Sophia, where are you? You seemed to have just disappeared. You're still making robots I know that, but let me find you so we can put that talent to better use. This game of hide and seek is getting tiresome.  
  
He sighs and looks up as a black fox shows up on his computer screen. Its red eyes shine bright in the screen. "What the." The fox looks at him a moment before casually going to the back where his folders are and starts picking them up. The fox starts to walk away with the folders carefully tucked under his arm. "Hey! You put those back!" the fox stops and looks as though he heard him.  
  
He sighs and drops the folders. Shrugging he takes out a welder's mask and puts it on then pulls out a blow torch. He lets it lose on the folders. "What, why you little!" the fox puts away his stuff and snickers at him then takes out a paintbrush with rainbow paint. He writes Mischievous was here!!!!! in the background. The fox runs up to the screen taking out a mallet. At the last second the computer turns off and starts to smoke. "This had better be someone's idea of a sick joke!" Li says though clinched teeth. The phone rings and he picks it up. "Yes"  
  
"We have a problem. There's a computer virus deleting information. The virus some how coded itself in the new virus elimination system we got."  
  
"How much is left?"  
  
"Um. we were only able to save a forth of our data sir. Wha-" Li crushes the receiver in his hand and hangs up what's left.  
  
"Annoying isn't he. Even I had trouble getting in here." Li looks up to see a tall man in a cloak.  
  
"Cobra. what brings you here?" Li relaxes when seeing him.  
  
"Having trouble I see. The Hyena Brothers- average, Black panther- uum. a little better. Close, but no cigar. All she did was tire Mr. Winner out. Let's just hope she used that that virus I gave her." Cobra walks to his desk. "We used to pick off the Dragon Clan now they're picking us off one by one."  
  
"Please don't tease me, now. It's hard enough as it is."  
  
"Getting rid of the amateurs I see. I think you should join Black Zoë." Li looks up at him surprised. "We can't afford to have anymore enemies at the state we're in now; and take a vacation, you look like shit."  
  
"Everybody needs a vacation now a days it seems. Fine, it'll help me clear my head. You'll take over while I'm gone."  
  
"Sorry not this time. Let your mother take control for a while. It's my turn to find this mechanic girl of yours you want."  
  
"No, I want you to take over. Do you know how embarrassing it is to let your mother take over? Besides I don't want my class A assassin going off in case I might need him."  
  
"In other words you don't want me to clean up your mess, you can do it yourself." He laughs at him. "Well, if you want to know I'm doing this of my own accord to have a bit of fun. Can't an old man have a little fun anymore?"  
  
"Might as well go; you never listen to me anyway" Cobra takes out a newspaper and throws it on his desk. Li picks it up. "Girl found ripped open." He throws it down not finishing. "So they're looking for a rabid wolf that escaped from the zoo."  
  
"You killed another girl didn't you? What did I tell you about watching your temper?"  
  
"They won't find out about the animal enhancements if they examine the body anyway you know that. All signs will show it was a wolf."  
  
"You're getting careless." Cobra says sternly.  
  
"I don't need this now, grandfather. I'll let mother take over and go. do what you want."  
  
*o* Shimi steps into the Winner mansion in awe. "Sweet digs. When you said Winner I didn't think you meant Quatre Winner of the Winner Foundation." The others come in behind her. Wufei and Sally went to talk to Mariemaia taking Hilde with them and were going to meet up with them later. "I just have to take a look around before I leave. A matter a fact. I'm going to go explore. Catch you guys later!"  
  
"Shouldn't you do something about that motorcycle you hit, before deciding to run off!"? Duo calls after her, but she was already halfway up the stairs.  
  
"Don't worry about it!" Shimi calls back before disappearing.  
  
"So you came to visit again, Duo" Rashid walks down the stairs stopping halfway down, "and I see you brought two friends with you. Welcome back Trowa."  
  
"I see you're looking well" They walk up to Rashid. "This is Heero our leader, you two probably haven't been properly introduced."  
  
Heero and Rashid shake hands. "I hope you don't mind waiting a few minutes for Quatre. He didn't get much sleep last night. There has been a series of attempts on his life lately and we're starting to get worried." They look at Rashid stunned by such news. Who would want Quatre dead? And why, besides to try and take over the satellites, but the way the Winner Foundation had it run, everybody benefited from there usage.  
  
Shimi looks around the room surprised at the torn up bedpost, ripped sheets, and blood stained floor. What happened here? She takes a closer look at the bedpost. Are those. claw marks? Shimi turns when she hears a small whimper behind her. "Wha." the black eyes of the fox look at her in astonishment. Oh. oh no, she didn't. Out of all the things to use.  
  
"Honestly, Fox your trump card. You used your trump card." Shimi looks at her partner in skepticism as they sit on his bed in his dim room.  
  
"I had no choice." His voice came out small, but calm.  
  
"You could have got yourself killed! Fox, you know you can't control that form as well as I can. You still need training in that area." Shimi gets up and looks at the claw mark carved in his face.  
  
"She was like us, Shimi! She could change her form too, ok!" the room goes silent as Fox moves away from her and takes off the bandage from around his neck. "It was either that or let him die. I didn't have a choice in the matter. Just forget it. It's time to change my bandages anyway."  
  
The three listen to Rashid in disbelief at what he had just told them. They had caught a few assassins that had been perusing Quatre. The sabotage of the building cut down their security force a bit. "How's Quatre taking this?" Trowa looks up as Heero asks his question.  
  
"Quatre's isn't taking the sabotaged building incident too well which I believe is stressing him out, but the one that worries me the most was the attack that happened early this morning."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, Duo. How can I say this? The assassin was a panther. an animal. You think we would have known if a big cat was hidden in this place. I know this is a big mansion, but someone would have at least seen it."  
  
Abdul comes in and the attention switches to him. "Rashid, it's almost time to leave, you coming?"  
  
"Yes, I'll be right back." Abdul disappears through the door. "I know Quatre will be safe with you, so I'm taking our last three teams to get some extra work done. I'm leaving the handful that escaped from the accident. I hope you find the man who you're looking for?" Rashid exits the tea room leaving it silent a moment before Shimi arrived with a friend.  
  
They were fighting over something as the three look up at Shimi's friend in surprise at first sight of him. That's weird why is Wufei here? Duo opens his mouth, but stops. He sees the long scratch across his face. No way that's Wufei. He's way to short and no way, that scratch is resent.  
  
Shimi turns around when she hears the comment. "What did you just call me?"  
  
"You heard me." Tikki catches her hand before she slaps his face. "I'm not putting up with any of your crap, now sit down!" she does so angrily. "What did I tell you picking up hitch hikers" he says motioning towards Heero, Trowa, and Duo who were sitting on the couch. Shimi turns to them on the couch.  
  
"Everybody, I want you to meet Tikki Rembu, my partner. He's a jerk, but you learn to love him eventually." She says aggravated.  
  
Man, this guy looks too much like Wufei. Duo watches him closely as Tikki bows then turns to his companions. There're probably thinking the same thing I am.  
  
"This is Heero, Trowa, and Duo." They say there hellos.  
  
"Why do you always assume it's me?" she says annoyed.  
  
"It has Shimi written all over it" he looks at her with anger in his eyes. "Where have you been? Why didn't you call me?"  
  
"God, I hit my head and had amnesia for a while, ok!" She turns away. This is stupid. He knows I would have called if I could. He acts just like his father... when he was worried. She looks at her partner who was sitting on the armrest now fuming more.  
  
She hugs Tikki pulling him in her lap. "HEY!"  
  
"You big baby, you were worried about me." Tikki tries to pull away furiously his eyes wide.  
  
"I, I didn't say that. You know I didn't say that. Cut it out, Shimi, you're creeping me out. Shimi cut it out!" He finally pulls away from her standing up. "Do you know how embarrassing that is to have you hug me like that? I'm not ten anymore, so no more hugs, ok."  
  
"So how long have you two been partners, exactly?" Duo says interrupting.  
  
"I don't know as long as I can remember we've always been partners." Shimi says thinking.  
  
"A little too long if you ask me. Those hugs of hers would kill a bear if you got her angry enough." Tikki gets a smug look on his face.  
  
She stands up and pinches his cheek. "Is little Tikki Wikki afraid of a little hug." He slaps her hand away.  
  
"Cut it out, that's not funny. You always treat me like I'm a baby."  
  
"That's because you act like one."  
  
"Hey there's nothing wrong with having a little fun as long as you're focused when the time comes there's a time for work and there's a time for play. As long as you know how to separate the two it's ok." Just then Quatre comes in.  
  
"Like you know how to separate the two, look where it got your father!" There's a long pause and a look of shock on Tikki's face which didn't last for long. His face turns furious as he balls up his fist.  
  
I've seen that look before. Trowa looks at Tikki completely amazed, but he'd never let it show like his other feeling. He remembered what he told Wufei in the final days of the war.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"If Heero brings Relena back here, at least greet her. It's so easy to hurt a woman's feelings" Wufei grits his teeth and his eyes twitch as he holds back his anger.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tikki's face turns cold. "Huh" He looks down as he bites his lower lip then calmly walks past her. "Damn it. Tikki wait." she runs to him putting a hand on his shoulder, but he shoves it away facing.  
  
"You're going to have to find your own way home. I have no more money to give you." His voice comes out tired and airy. "I don't even know why I help you."  
  
"What happened to your face?" Quatre utters with concern just noticing his face.  
  
"Nothing, I'm ok. I went to get a glass of water early this morning and something got me"  
  
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Winner, but can we talk about this later? I'm sure these gentlemen have been waiting a long time. I, I got to go." Quatre sees that he was upset shuck his head with a small smile.  
  
"I didn't mean for it to come out that way." Shimi pleas with him, "I'm-"  
  
"Just, just don't talk to me." He quickly exits the room, but Shimi doesn't follow. She falls to her knees staring at the door. The others stand up and walk to her.  
  
I just blamed her for him own father's death. "Tikki, I'm so, so sorry. I can't believe I said that." Trowa kneels down next to her as she covers her face with her hands. "Oh, my God, what have I done? That's the last thing I ever wanted to say to him especially now." He puts a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezes.  
  
"Hey, just let him cool down" Duo says as she takes her hands away from her face. Tears stain her hands and face. "You weren't kidding about the jerk part, but I don't know about the loving part."  
  
She laughs and wipes some tears of with the back of her hand. "Thanks Duo, but he was just joking when he called you guys hitch hikers."  
  
"What do you mean especially now?" Quatre asks her confused.  
  
"You haven't known him long, but he has an immense burden at home. He's inherited his father's business" He hides it under that childish prankster attitude of his. He hates asking for help, and keeps things to himself. What's worse is that he hates to show his feelings because of his father's murder. He feels it's his fault. "Today is the day Mr. Dragon was killed. I just made it worse." Man, I feel like dirt.  
  
"He looks so much like Wufei though" Duo says wondering. "Are they related?"  
  
"From what I know, no, he's not, but it is possible. would you believe he looks up to Wufei. It was Wufei who trained him. That's probably why he never wants any help, but the thing is when there're around each other they act. so different that you wouldn't be able to distinguish them. It's. it's strange."  
  
Heero glances at Quatre who looked a little pastel. "Quatre. you look ill."  
  
Quatre forces a smile. "I'm just a little tired that's all."  
  
"Heero's right. you don't look so good."  
  
o_~; ~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"We'll cover for you if it's that important." Auda says as the other eight agree with him. The nine huddle behind a truck after listening to Tikki's request. "Just don't let Rashid catch you or we're all in trouble."  
  
"Thanks guys. I'll only be gone for two hours at the most. I should be back in time for lunch at the most."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I came to this party for what again. Tikki groans looking at the people as they dance in there formal attire. He looks at his own clothes which were solid white Dragon Clan Training uniform with matching Chinese slippers. I'm the only one here wearing white. I stick out like a sore thumb. His hair was in a short ponytail ending in the middle of his back. No wait, there's the birthday girl. Mariemaia sits at a table with Relena talking.  
  
"Excuse me sir, but I didn't see your invitation" he looks over the see the butler he raced past to get were he was."  
  
"Um." he starts digging in his pocket. "You know what, I must have left it in my other jacket" Tikki gives a cheesy smile.  
  
"Then I'm afraid you're going to have to leave." The butler's voice has a hint of disapproval in his voice.  
  
"Can I at least give the birthday girl her present before I leave?"  
  
"No, but I'm willing to give her your present for you."  
  
"Sorry, I prefer to deliver my packages in person if you don't mind.  
  
"This party is only for invited guests, no exceptions." His voice comes out sternly. Two tall guys in black tuxes come up behind Tikki. "I'll let Kyle and Samuel, see you out."  
  
"That's ok; I can see myself out, if you don't mind."  
  
"Oh, but I insist." He jerks his head in the direction in which the two guards ended up carrying Tikki. They threw him out the back.  
  
"Juuusst great, now I have to find another way in. I see you had a little trouble getting in yourself, Niko."  
  
Niko came out of the shadows a little surprised. "Fox, how do you do it?" Niko was wearing a long green dress with a dragon design that started from the neck and wrapped around until it reached the end of the dress. There was a slit on the right slide that was about 5 inches.  
  
"That's my little secret" he sighs looking up at the side of the building. "You know your disguise isn't a good one Niko. You know people are after Sophia Dragon."  
  
Niko looks at Fox a moment. Is it possible he knows the person I'm impersonating? "Thanks for the advice, but I can take care of myself. who decided to use your face as a scratching post, anyway?"  
  
"I found the panther had claws." Tikki jumps on the trashcan and jumps to the nearest windowsill. Climbing higher he reaches an open window on the top floor.  
  
"Hey, what about me, huh?" Niko calls up to Fox as he starts to climb in.  
  
"I give advice not help!"  
  
Niko shrugs and follows the path Fox took. As she starts for the open window she stops seeing the claw marks in the brick. Could he be. enhanced? That would explain why he knew I was hiding in the shadows. Niko continues and as she enters the room Fox is fixing his cloths in the mirror.  
  
"What took you so long?" he turns to Niko. "Well, how do I look?"  
  
"Better. I guess" Fox bows to Niko before heading for the exit. Niko goes to the door as he leaves the room. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Fox gives her a, don't worry; I know what I'm doing, look before turning the corner at the intersection. It was only a few seconds later that Fox came dashing across the intersection with two guys chasing him. Niko sighs. I warned him. might as well use this to my advantage.  
  
Niko heads out of the room and starts down the hall. She hides a guy comes out of a room and at the same time sticks a gun in his pocket. Bingo, just the guy I was looking for. She follows him closely, but before she could catch him a large group of people dancing slowed her down. As she tries to make her way through, he starts to take out his gun. Damn it, I'm not going to make it. She reaches for her gun.  
  
"HEEY!!!" Everyone's attention turns to Fox who was standing on the rail of the highest balcony. "Hey, you in the balcony across from me, yeah you, this is a kid's birthday party!" People's attention switches to the guy with the gun.  
  
What's that fool doing?! Is he trying to cause mass panic?  
  
"Don't traumatize her, anymore then she's already is! It takes a long time to fix something like that!" The guy points the gun to Relena and fires, but Wufei pushes her out of the way. There are screams as a second gun shot is fired. Sally lowers her gun.  
  
"I thought that was you, Fox!" Fox takes out his gun and points it at the butler with a smirk on his face.  
  
"I knew I didn't like you when I first saw you." Fox kills him on the spot then turns toward his terrified audience. "Sorry, about that! Mariemaia nice security, but you should really check these peoples background before you use them."  
  
"Who are you?" Mariemaia asks looking up at him as Kyle and Samuel walk come in taking out machine guns.  
  
"Get Down!!" Fox hollers as he shoots in her direction hitting the guy behind her. He stagers back as his partner starts firing at Fox on the balcony. Fox quickly jumps down and gets down like everyone else, but the firing soon cease, rather suddenly. Fox peaks over the side and sees both guys on the ground dead. Looking closer fox could see the first guy had been shot again and this time in the head. He stands up seeing Niko lowering her gun. "It's about time you decided to shoot off your gun Sophia!"  
  
"Tell Sophia I'll meet her at the house." He winks at her.  
  
"Ok" Mariemaia waves goodbye to Fox as he exits through the window holding a black puppy with a white tail tip and paws. "Thank you, I'll take good care of Snow Paws."  
  
Fox smiles seeing Mariemaia with her new puppy. Time to go back to work Fox looks at his watch as he enters a grocery store. After picking up a few things for the guys, he suddenly lost his appetite. I'm just glad that the site was conveniently close to the party. He heads down the street and everything starts to spin. He starts to have hot and cold flashes. Fox breaths heavily. Ignoring it, he somehow makes it back to the site as Rashid starts to check up on everyone.  
  
"And where have you been?" Rashid asks suspiciously.  
  
"Me. just getting lunch for everyone, that's all."  
  
"I don't remember that being your uniform, Tikki"  
  
All man I forgot to change back into my uniform. "Well. I um." he blushes, but he covers it with the paper bag he's carrying.  
  
"Hey, Tikki thanks for the snacks" Auda and the guys come running up to him. "Shimi wasn't kidding that uniform does make you look like you're related to Wufei Chang. Have you decided to take a blood test to see if your related or not?"  
  
Auda takes the bag from him. Tikki catches on quick. "Sure, why not." Rashid looks at them hard for a moment.  
  
"Just. remember to change back after lunch." I don't know what they're up to, but I'll let this one slide. He was about to turn and leave when he saw Tikki sit down quit suddenly. It was more like he dropped into his sitting position breathing fairly heavily. "Tikki are you feeling ok?" Everyone's attention turns to Tikki.  
  
"I, I don't know. I just feel sick all of a sudden." Tikki chokes out. Rashid and Auda kneel beside him. Tikki suddenly looked sick as his heavy breathing continued. His usual bright black eyes that had first showed itself now earlier then a week after he first arrived began to fade slightly.  
  
Rashid feels his head. "You should go home, Tikki; you have a fever."  
  
Tikki looks up at Rashid astonished at what he had just said. "It's ok, really." He stands up, but a dizzy spell overwhelms him. Rashid and Auda both steady him. They walk him over the truck as a car drives up to them. Tikki looks up. The car window rolls down.  
  
"Tikki, what's the matter? You look so sick."  
  
"I don't know, but I don't need you bothering me right now, Sophia." Tikki says as Sophia opens the back seat and steps out.  
  
"Sophia, do you mind taking Tikki home for us."  
  
"It'll be no trouble at all." She smiles at them, but it was a crocked smile only Tikki noticed.  
  
He looks at Niko closely gritting his teeth. Damn it she's going to take advantage of this. I just know it. A wave of nausea begins to creep up on him. He throws up on Niko by accident. His voice comes out hoarse. "Sorry, Sophia." 


	10. Shimi & Fox's Relations

Disclaimer: Hiiiii, it's me ProtogirlT. You know, now is the time I wish I picked a better name for myself. So that everyone knows Officer Tembo, Li, Shimi, Fox, and Sophia are all my characters. Niko Nightwind is a recurring character. Today's chapter you'll see a little bit more of Niko. Don't want to spoil it for ya, so READ AND FIND OUT!!!!!!!!!! Please R & R  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 10 *Shimi & Foxes Relations* 12:00pm  
  
It's only been a few minutes since we brought Fox back from the construction site and he seems to be getting worse by the minute. Niko knocks on the bathroom door. "You ok in there?"  
  
".Yeah, considering the condition I'm in." Fox stumbles out of the bathroom and leans on the wall continuing to breath heavy. He was wearing different clothes, a sky blue shirt with deep green pants. He doesn't make eye contact with him.  
  
Fox quickly puts a red bandana around his neck, but it was too late Niko notices right away. "What's happened to your neck?"  
  
"Nothing you should concern yourself with." Fox looks him dead in the eyes his voice serious. "You can go now." His stare becomes cold as he hesitates before leaving. A feeling of uneasiness settles in as he looks back at Fox the kind you get right before being attacked by an animal that's given you a just warning.  
  
Geeze, not even a thank you Niko gets a bad feeling as she leaves the room. I'll check on him later. How did that Preventer know I wasn't Sophia Dragon, anyway? How are these people finding out I'm in disguise anyway?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Sophia Dragon, my name is Sally Poe. You probably don't remember me from the Mariemaia incident, but we've been looking for you for some time now. We need to talk to you." Sally shakes her hand with a smile on her face as a young Chinese man walks up. "I believe you remember-"  
  
"That's not her" He says not giving the girl a second look. Sally looks astonished at her partner sudden interruption. Sally looks back and forth between her partner and the fake Sophia. "If you do find her and I have a feeling you will tell her that I'm looking for her." He turns and walks away without another word.  
  
"What do you mean, Wufei?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
That guy was just as cold as. Fox. Niko stops in her tracks. Is. it possible that they're related or even.? Niko is pulled out of her thoughts at the sight of Trowa and Heero helping Quatre up the stairs. He looked as white as a sheet breathing almost as bad as Fox was. Duo and Shimi trail behind them. "Mr. Winner, what's the matter? You look so pale."  
  
"He just fell ill suddenly which is way too coincidental" Sophia quickly opens her bedroom door since it was closest. They get Quatre into bed and stand around it thinking on what to do.  
  
Shimi knows more about this then we do and Fox I bet knows who's behind this. I feel so. useless. "A hospital might be too risky." Heero looks at Quatre. He turns to Shimi who looks away.  
  
Shimi feels a stab of guilt as she bits her lower lip. Shimi turns to Sophia who was at Quatre's bed side who was deep in thought. "Sophia, you've worked in the medical field a bit. Try your luck."  
  
"Her diagnosis won't help. He got this virus from a panther and that's that." Everyone turns to face Tikki who was leaning on the door for support looking as though he was going to pass out any minute.  
  
"And I thought Quatre looked bad." Duo says surprised. Tikki moves away from his and staggers over to the bed. Shimi tries to help him, but he coldly shoves her away.  
  
"Tikki, you should be in bed." Quatre tells him weakly as he comes closer.  
  
"That's news to me. I need to see your neck where you got scratched." Sophia unbuttons Quatre's shirt and she carefully peels off the bandage. Tikki manages to stay standing. "Sophia, what do you notice about his scratches and the one across my face?" Tikki closes his eyes as he says this.  
  
"There's no scab, just a crevasse where you were scratched, and the skin around it seems to be dry and to flack off like sand." Tikki takes a step back and opens his eyes, but his eyes roll in the back of his head.  
  
Shimi catches him as he falls. "I'm so sorry for being gone so long and. for what I said." Trowa and Heero walk over to them. "Fox, come on wake up."  
  
Fox. so he was here all along. Shimi sits on the floor holding Fox in her arms. Trowa looks at Quatre who was now asleep. He turns back to Fox.  
  
"I know, but damn it, Shimi you gave me away." Fox murmurs with his eyes still closed. Shimi sighs as Trowa and Heero kneel next to here. Fox opens his eyes slowly. "I'm not in the mood to play right now."  
  
"Is there anything else we should know about this sudden illness?" Heero asks ignoring his little comment.  
  
"Yes, there is." Fox sits up. "But I'm afraid it might startle you." Fox removes the ascot from around his neck revealing the bandages underneath. Instead of unwrapping then he rips the bandages from around his neck. What looked like sand falls in his lap. There was hardly any skin around his neck as well as a giant spot where there was only muscle showing. "If we don't get the cure for this soon there won't be anything left of us, but dust."  
  
*****  
  
Mariemaia pets her puppy Snow Paws as she sits on her bed looking up at the golden brown haired woman as she thinks a moment. "So she went already. Do you know which direction she-?"  
  
"Don't bother asking her, Sally." Sally looks up at Wufei who was looking a bit melancholy out the window. He sighs then closes his eyes before turning to his partner. "We won't find her now. we missed our chance." We'll wait till your guards down Sophia, and then I'll finally figure out why you're running like a scared rabbit.  
  
Wufei. she must really mean a lot to you if you're this worried. Sally follows Wufei out the door after saying goodbye. She watches Wufei closely as they enter the car and he starts to drive to their hotel. The drive seemed endless because of the silence. She follows him to his room to make sure he needed someone to talk to and quietly closes the door behind her. "You're not blaming yourself for this, are you, Wufei?"  
  
Wufei looks up at her after he takes off his shirt. "I thought for sure she'd come up to the table to give Mariemaia her present. She usually does things in person." He tosses his shirt on the bed.  
  
"Maybe something prevented her to do so. Don't worry we'll find her, Wufei." There's a long silence as she walks up to him.  
  
"I'm starting to think we need to set up an ambush like we did with Shimi." Wufei and Sally both sit down at the same time on the bed. The ends of the bed seem to spread out like waves then comes back jolting Sally forward into Wufei's arms. "Did you order a waterbed. Sally?"  
  
"I don't think so." She sits up. There's a knock on the door. Surprised they look up. Sally gets up and answers the door. "Yes"  
  
"Letter for someone named Panda."  
  
"Panda. I'm sorry, but there's no one named Panda here."  
  
"You can take it Sally." She takes it confused and closes the door. He looks uneasily at her. "I'm. Panda" he blushes as he takes it from her.  
  
Dear Panda,  
  
I here you've been looking for me, so quit. I can take care of this by myself. Before you get ballistic on me I'm just peachy, cool, and dandy. I have to do this on my own just like you went off to be a gundam pilot, k. I forgive you for what you did. I'm glad the Solitary Dragon found a job that suits him.  
  
The only girl you refused to call weak when you were small the one who followed you around,  
  
Sophia Dragon  
  
P.S. Don't worry about me. I'm fine, really. Oh. enjoy the waterbed.  
  
Annoyance emerges on Wufei's face as he finishes the letter. "It looks like she's keeping tabs on us instead of the other way around." He looks up from the letter at Sally. She smiles at him as she sits next to him.  
  
"Funny, you don't look like a panda to me, Wufei." She laughs a little as he blushes more.  
  
"It's a nickname she calls me when she's angry at me or is just trying to get back at me for something I did." He turns his face away from hers. "I hate that name." Wufei lies down on the waterbed to escape her gaze.  
  
She lies down next to him to tease him. "I like it. I've never seen you blush before." She sits up looking down at him. "Might as well enjoy the waterbed she got you." He looks up at Sally as she gets up and leaves his room. "We'll try looking for her in the near one in the morning so we need our sleep now. Oh, good night Panda," Wufei scowls at her. He grabs the pillow from the head of the bed and chunks it at her, but she closes the door in time.  
  
*****  
  
Shimi devourers a slice of cheesecake, which she stole from the freezer, nervously. She sits down at the table and picks up another piece, but stops worried. "So, what do you have, Niko?" Shimi looks across from Niko, who was still in her disguise.  
  
"The symptoms show they've been in the desert for a long time without water. We have to keep them hydrated, but. It's the skin though that bothers me. It's almost like their skin is decomposing slowly." Niko looks at Shimi who offers her a slice. Taking it she notices Shimi was shaking a little and as Niko looked at her face she looked a bit guilty. Niko watches Shimi closely as she eats the piece of cheesecake. "You know something don't you." Shimi doesn't make eye contact with her, but after a while she nods her head.  
  
"I know the cure for it so it won't spread, but I don't know how to stop what's already damaged." There's a long pause before she continues. "Um. my blood can be used to make the cure for it,"  
  
"Really, why didn't you tell us before?" Niko looks at her confused. "It would have saved us a lot of time."  
  
"But." Shimi looks up ashamed. "Um. I hate needles, Niko. the though of even having to be pricked by a needle freaks me out."  
  
"Oh, is that all. I thought it was you responsible for this virus or something." Shimi looks at Niko surprised at how easily she took the news. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. There are grown men who cry at the sign of a needles and I mean the small ones." Shimi now reassured with the answer she received stuffs the last slice of cheesecake in her mouth this time with satisfaction.  
  
"It doesn't take long to make it probably five hours at the most. I have to ask you something. Did Fox ever. yelled at you for no apparent reason. You know just all of a sudden stated screaming at you."  
  
"Yes, why"  
  
"Oh nothing really, just wondering" Shimi gets up and throws away the tray that held the cheesecake. Niko looks at Shimi a moment. Wait, it was Shimi who picked my disguise. She gave me any and all information about her like she knew her very well. It was the only thing she asked from me as thanks for taking care of her until she got her memory back. Hah, so I finally found out whom you are, Fox.  
  
"Hey, I have an idea!" Shimi burst out suddenly getting her cheerful attitude back. "Follow me. I think I might have found a way to re-hydrate the skin at least until we get the cure." Shimi heads for the door and Niko follows.  
  
*****  
  
"Shimi this has got to be one of the most unintelligent of your ideas that you've ever had."  
  
"Hey it's working, isn't it; you look and sound perfectly healthy, besides Mr. Winner doesn't mind." Shimi crosses her arms as she sits on the toilet. Heero and Trowa stand on either side of her content that they've found a cure for Quatre's state and Shimi's temporary solution gave them an easy way to keep an eye of Fox. She smiles enjoying the annoyed look on Fox's face.  
  
"That's because the guy's too nice to say it, so I'll say it for him. Shimi this is the most dim-witted idea you've ever had." Fox's voice comes out dull and his face lifeless.  
  
"I don't mind it, really" Quatre says sitting next to Fox neck high in water in the shower. Shimi looks pleased with his reply.  
  
"He's just being nice, Shimi."  
  
"No, it's ok really, I don't mind." Fox looks at Quatre a moment. Quatre turns to Shimi. "I'm just curious; how is it until the antidote is ready?"  
  
Fox looks at Heero and Trowa though the shower glass. "He's not normal is he?" the blonde turns to Fox surprised at his comment. He shrugs off the comment since he's seen him act this way when he has to stay put in one place a long time. Suddenly, Fox gets an impish look on his face that Quatre has seen before at staff meetings when it got too quiet. He always managed to stir up some kind of unusual or bizarre conversation. Fox leans slightly in Quatre's direction. "You're straight right." Fox whispers.  
  
Quatre looks stunned a moment. "Yes, to my knowledge I am" Quatre looks a little confused then finding it vaguely amusing.  
  
"Fox, behave! I know you don't like being cooped up, but don't take it out on Mr. Winner." He glances at Shimi then returns his gaze to Quatre seeing that it didn't faze him any.  
  
Fox's attention switches back to Shimi. "What! I didn't do anything! I was just curious besides there's nothing wrong with wanting to know who I'm sitting next to." Duo comes in because of the screaming. Trowa and Heero just listen carefully to see if they could pick up any important fact that might slip out.  
  
"You know you don't ask questions like that." There was a long silence and Fox submerges his head underwater to avoid Shimi's gaze. Shimi looks annoyed at her partner a moment then closes her eyes. She notices Sophia who stops a moment at the entrance of the bathroom. Sophia mouths that they have to wait another two hours before the antidotes ready. "How would you guys like to join our little team here?"  
  
The guys look at Shimi considerably interested in her request. Fox sits up rather quickly hearing what she asked. "You can't be serious." He could see the consideration in eyes of the guys.  
  
"No, I'm serious. What do you guys think?"  
  
"Sounds like it'll be fun and it's a good time to clean out the cob webs that has set in over two years." Duo leans on the wall. "A little excitement wouldn't hurt."  
  
"Sure, just tell us what you know and we can do anything we can do." Shimi smiles at Trowa's generous offer to help.  
  
"If you need help Tikki, we'll be willing to help you." Quatre says showing his usual bigheartedness.  
  
"Shimi. these guys have lives. Heero has a job, Duo and Quatre own there own businesses, and Trowa has to go back to the circus soon. You can't just tear them away from their lives by asking something like this of this of them." Fox says looking Heero dead in the eyes. He turns his gaze away from Heero then closes his eyes.  
  
"We need the help, Fox, and you know it."  
  
"We don't have the time right now to train rookies. These enemies are far too powerful; they'll be at a disadvantage and I know that from experience."  
  
"Not to burst your bubble, Fox, but we have had training; last time I checked we were gundam pilots." Duo exclaims interrupting obviously unpleased with his commentary. Who does this guy think he is calling us rookies?  
  
"Sorry, but you'll just be in the way if I add you to the group now. I wish to leave outsiders out of this." The end Fox's hair begins to curl up cutting the length of his hair in half, making him look somewhat feminine. He leans back against the wall of the shower.  
  
"Well, excuse me for wanting to help." Duo looks away from Fox annoyed as Sophia comes to the bathroom door with two bottles in her hands. Duo takes the bottles from her, "What's this?"  
  
"That lotion should counter act the effects of the virus on the skin returning it to it natural state and. should help the skin around Fox's neck grow back faster. Make sure they use this for two weeks and they should be back to normal."  
  
"Thanks Sophia. I knew if I asked you you'd find a way to fix everything." Fox looks from Sophia to Shimi unpleased with what he was listening to. I don't like this. How does she know her so well?  
  
Man, his temper is like a volcano, Duo thinks to himself seeing Fox's face change. Something else has to be eating at him.  
  
"Don't thank me. Sina made it for that "just in case" notion of hers then she made me bring it with me. You know how she can get."  
  
"You know her, Shimi." The suspicion in Fox's voice is eminent as he speaks to her.  
  
"Oooh. Sophia took care of me until I got most of my memory back after the accident during my mission. If it wasn't for her I'd almost certainly be dead by now."  
  
"That's why you want to recruit new people." Fox whispers to himself. That explains it. He closes his eyes and submerges his head again. Quatre watches him as he goes under catching a glimpse of tolerant, thoughtfulness in his eyes.  
  
*****  
  
Dear Shimi,  
  
I don't blame you for needing a partner at your side and being afraid to die at a young age, but I don't have time to wait until you get your courage back. so, since you're not up to it, Shimi; I'll do it myself then. It's my fault for asking you to help me in the first place. I won't sacrifice anymore lives for what was once my father's battle. I have to do this on my own. I know that now.  
  
Fox  
  
P.S. It's better this way, I can watch my own back easier then someone else's anyway.  
  
Fox looks over his note again before placing it on the alarm clock that he had used the night he saved Quatre from Black Panther. The clock read 9:44 as he taped it on the clock. He grabs one of the bottles of lotion Niko left behind and stuffs it in his book bag. He grabs his video player off his bed packing it also then he glances at his laptop on the dresser, but decides to pack the things the bathroom first since it was closer. After going in the bathroom, however, there's a knock on the door and the door opens.  
  
"Hey Fox, Shimi wants to know if you want any. Fox?" Duo walks in and looks around that's when he notices the not on the clock. "Why am I not surprised?" he looks up when he hear a sound from the bathroom. He makes his way over to it and he pushes the door open slowly. "Hello?"  
  
He jumps back as a giant black fox, with a book bag on its back, jumps at him. It lands next to him and they make eye contact. He stares at it in disbelief. "What the hell." The fox goes to the dresser and with its orange paw slides the laptop in its mouth and races out of the room. In the hallway, it dashes past the imposter Sophia nearly bumping into Quatre and Trowa.  
  
"Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you." Quatre kneels down and pets her. "This was the fox I was talking to you guys about that saved my life."  
  
"I've never seen a fox like this before." Trowa follows Quatre, but just examines it. Duo walks up stunned as Trowa notices whose laptop was in its mouth and the book bag strapped to its back.  
  
"I should have know, you Quatre would tame any animal." They look up at Duo who sighs. "I found the fox in the bathroom of Fox's room and I have some bad news. He ran off again."  
  
"ShadowBall!" everyone looks up at Shimi who was screaming Heero behind her watching in silence. "You know better! Give me that!" Shimi grabs the laptop and tries to rip it from the fox's jaws, but it only turned into a game of tug of war. ShadowBall growls viscously as Shimi tugs and jerks to get the laptop out of the fox's mouth.  
  
"You know this fox?" Quatre asks standing up.  
  
"Yes, you can say this is Fox's special lady were ever he is his shadow issnnn't far behind. He can't leave without her." She finally rips it from her mouth. "I know he won't leave without his laptop. There's no way Fox's leaving without me!!!!!!!" She keeps it out of ShadowBall's reach as she stands on her hind legs leaning on Shimi's arm yelping almost pleading for her to give it back to her.  
  
"We just want to help your partner." Heero says scratching ShadowBall's head. "If Quatre hadn't been involved and hadn't had this feeling of the colonies being in trouble I wouldn't have considered helping in the first place." ShadowBall looks at him in the eyes a moment and calms down as though she understood.  
  
*****  
  
"Heero I was wondering. the way you talked to ShadowBall. It was like you expected her to understand or something." Duo looks over at Heero waiting for his reply. They made it back to the Winner mansion after combing the area for Fox who Shimi insisted was still somewhere in the house after they searched if five times room by room.  
  
". I just felt like I needed to explain myself for some reason." Heero stops in the driveway as a car pulls up thinking a moment. The way she looked at me, I felt like I needed to ., but why? There was something familiar about her eyes even if she was a fox. Sophia comes walking out of the mansion with two suit cases.  
  
"Oh, let me help you there." Duo quickly gets up and takes the suitcases for her after opening the car door.  
  
"Thank you," she gives him a smile.  
  
"If you're done flirting we could leave already," The driver yells from the front.  
  
"You should talk." Sophia sits in the car as Heero helps pack the suitcases in the back.  
  
"Thanks for the help." The driver looks over at Heero. "No wonder you stayed here so long. Hey Sophia, are there any more hot guys here?"  
  
Sophia just shook his head extravagantly, threw his hands up in the air, mumbling "Some people never change," under her breath and gets into the car. Daga snickers and smiles at Heero.  
  
"WWAAAIT!" Shimi comes running from the house. "Can you stay just a little longer? . Hey Daga how are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while"  
  
"I'm ok, how are you?"  
  
"Everything was fine until." Shimi starts to cry. "He left without me!"  
  
"Calm down Shimi, who left.?" Sophia and Daga get out of the car to try and calm her.  
  
"ShadowBall's gone, so that means Fox left without me behind! He's going to try and get rid of Osprey all by himself! I NEED EVERYONE'S HELP TO FIND HIM BEFORE HE ENDS UP GETTING HIMSELF KILLED!!"  
  
"What do you need us to do?"  
  
*****  
  
Fox looks to his left at Relena Dorling. Might as well make sure her ride home's ok. He looks down his mind wondering. Leaving my laptop behind was inexcusable, but I couldn't have risked having them hassle me. Not now. as long as there are still some assassins that are splicers left in Osprey I can't afford to train anyone at the moment. I don't even think they would survive my training. Relena catches Fox looking at her. He smiles tipping his hat at her. She returns his smile. 


	11. New Finds

Disclaimer: So that everyone knows Officer Tembo, Li, Shimi, Fox, and Sophia are all my characters. Niko Nightwind is a recurring character, so please R & R  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 11 *New Finds* 11:39am  
  
"How's the process going for you, Quatre?" Duo asks being his perky usual self.  
  
Some of what has happened besides the sabotaged building leaked out and reporters started to swarm. Rashid thought it would be a considerable start on a vacation. They decided to camouflage Quatre's volunteered mission of decoding Fox's laptop with him going on a vacation. Quatre sighs with disappointment. "So far I was only able to get the communicator working. That's how I'm able to talk to you."  
  
"That bad. well, you're smart. You'll figure it out." Heero and Trowa wave in the back. Quatre waves back with a warm smile. "Shimi went with Sally and Wufei. They think the whereabouts of Sophia and Fox are somehow connected."  
  
"Are they going to interrogate her?"  
  
"Most likely after Wufei read the note Fox left Shimi; he thinks they're the same person."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wufei's eyes grow wide a moment after reading the letter left by Fox. "She wouldn't. not by herself." He gets a worried expression as he reads it over. He walks over to Shimi who was standing in the doorway.  
  
Shimi's voice comes out small seeing Wufei's anger rise. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "That's Fox Wufei. not-"  
  
"Just tell me where he went."  
  
"I don't know where he went, Wufei." She tried to move away, but he holds her in place.  
  
"And you just let her go... all by herself! You're supposed to be with her, Shimi!" Wufei blows up in her face after a few seconds of silence. She tries to move away again frightened as he began to squeeze her shoulders.  
  
"Wufei she feels bad about Fox leaving already." Trowa says coming to her defense. Wufei gives him a warning look telling him to stay out of it.  
  
"Wufei, please you're out of control" Sally said horrified.  
  
"Fox, Wufei. not Sophia, Fox-" Shimi said.  
  
"Don't try and pull that crap on me! I know her handwriting and the way she writes!" he screams in her face ignoring Sally. Sally slaps him across the face.  
  
"Look what you're doing!" he looks at Shimi as though waking up from a nightmare. He releases Shimi whose eyes fill with tears as she runs to Trowa.  
  
"I'm, I'm sorry Sally." He face switches from anger to worry now even more then before.  
  
"It's ok." Sally smiles warmly at him. She hugs him who surprisingly after a while he hugged her back.  
  
"She can't take on a whole organization by herself," Wufei says in a small voice that nobody recognized.  
  
"I know, but remember you have a partner to help you this time. You're not alone."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"He took it that hard. She must mean a lot to him" Quatre says sympathetically.  
  
"Yeah I've never seen him like that before."  
  
". Is it wise to leave Shimi with only sally and Wufei?"  
  
"Don't worry we have Niko and Daga with her just in case." Duo says reassuring the safety of Shimi. "The guys and I want to know how your vacation's going."  
  
"Great, that is if you like the desert. Oh, Commander Sa Da Ool says to give you his blessings."  
  
"He still remembers me, huh. Tell him I said hi." Suddenly, Quatre's attention drifts, which Duo notices almost instantly. "Something interesting you're not telling us about? ... Quatre" Duo, Heero, and Trowa exchange looks when Quatre doesn't answer. "Um, Quatre. hey Quatre. earth to Quatre."  
  
"Quatre" Quatre turns back to his friends as though caught talking without permission in a classroom. "Are you ok? Duo's been calling you for a while now."  
  
"Oh, sorry Trowa I guess I didn't hear you." His eyes turn back in the direction he was looking before.  
  
"Something caught your interest over there, Quatre." Duo says curious. Anything can steal Quatre's attention has to be good. His attention doesn't waver easily. "Well. come on lets here it."  
  
"If you listen carefully, you can hear her singing." A smile forms on Quatre's face as he continues looking to his left.  
  
"It's a girl, huh. What's her name and have you tried talking to her?"  
  
Quatre blushes a little. "Yes I have, but she's extremely shy. She just moved into the building across from me and every morning she sings. She's a dancing girl here, but she's not Arabic. I believe she's Egyption." He looks back at his friends and sighs but it was a confused sigh. The kind when you're trying to remember something important. "I just have this feeling that. I've met her before somewhere."  
  
"I guess you better get back to work." Duo says with a smile. "Planning a date is going to be a bit hard in the desert besides you need time to get up the nerve to ask her out."  
  
"I think Duo's right" Heero says teasing his face and voice unchanging.  
  
"You shouldn't keep her waiting" Trowa says joining in.  
  
"You too Trowa. ok, I'll. ask her out." He says in a sheepish voice blushing more.  
  
"Oh and do remember to take some time to get some work done instead of spending all your time with her."  
  
The transmission ends and he looks out his window to see that the girl had left. I guess. I'll catch her later, then. He closes the laptop and he leaves taking it with him. Outside, Quatre sits on a bench in the mist of a festival. I'm not sure if I'll be able to ask her to lunch, today. oh well. I'll just try my luck tomorrow. He watches a while before opening the laptop.  
  
"Having a little trouble, Master Quatre?" Rashid sits down next to Quatre as he tries to open another file.  
  
"This is harder then I thought it was going to be. It's one rode block after another. I've only gotten through two, so far; I've been doing this for two weeks."  
  
"You'll figure it out."  
  
".That's what everybody keeps telling me, but now I'm not so sure." Quatre sighs looking sad.  
  
"You should take a rest Quatre. Enjoy the festival." Rashid sees that Quatre's gaze has shifted off in the distance. "Quatre" Quatre places the laptop beside him and stands up not hearing him. Curious Rashid looks in the direction he was looking, but couldn't see anything because of the dancing people. Quatre starts running surprising Rashid. "Where are you going, Master Quatre!"  
  
Quatre turns waving, "I just remembered something. I'll be right back!" Quatre disappears in the crowd.  
  
Hum, that's strange. I'll leave him to his business. If he ran off it's for good reason. Rashid picks up the laptop after sitting back down. If Tikki was truly Fox then they won't be your ordinary passwords.  
  
"Hey Rashid. Where's Quatre going in such a rush?" Abdul asks walking up to Rashid curious. "Must be important if he ran off for it"  
  
"We shouldn't worry. It's his vacation after all; we should let him enjoy it."  
  
*****  
  
Shimi and Sally walks into a room about the size of a small classroom. Instead of desks there were three long tables running horizontally to the giant computer in front. The six were sitting in wait for the two to come in. Heero, Wufei, and Trowa occupy the table closest to the computer; Daga, Duo, and Niko dwell in the table behind them. Shimi and Sally take there places at the head of the room beginning the meeting.  
  
"Ok, this is what I've gathered from my mission. Even though it was a failure something good came out of it." Shimi looks at her new group of volunteers most which she just met no less then a month ago. She started to get second thoughts, but Wufei was practically staring down her thought. Sally and Shimi made a deal that she would tell them some of what she knows as long as she kept Wufei from killing her.  
  
I hope I don't regret this. Shimi takes out a disk from her pocket and loads it into the computer. A long list appears on the computer screen. "These are all the bases that they have in Osprey and after going through them here are the ones we've already destroyed or rendered useless." She presses a button and about three fourths disappear.  
  
Duo whistles impressed. "Man you two did all those by yourselves." Shimi smiles at him pleased by his being impressed.  
  
"No, we did do some though, Duo. We had a team of twelve people that consisted of gifted assassins, mechanics, scientists, two splicers, and even thieves."  
  
They look at Shimi a moment hearing the new word. "What are splicers?" Shimi looks at Wufei hesitant to answer his question.  
  
"A splicer, Wufei, is half human half animal which has the ability to change into. the animal to which it was spliced. When they change they sometimes tend to be slightly larger then the original animal depending on the size of the person. Some even experience unusual coloring or inverted coloring. They are nocturnal and prefer to change under the veil of night." Her face gets serious. "A splicer is made by taking a half fertilized egg of half an egg and replace what's missing with the portion of an egg of an animal."  
  
"Why would anyone want to do that?" Duo says thunderously aggravated, "I mean shouldn't they just enjoy the peace that we have attained for them. What is with people? They want revenge we give them revenge. They want peace we give them peace. Will someone make up their mind?"  
  
"Well, the person who's spliced gets the instincts, power, stamina, speed, or sometimes the personality of that animal. Splicers are 9 times out of ten loyal to the one who raises them. Anyone who wanted a large powerful army that obeyed their command without question, to take over the world or worse the colonies, is my guess."  
  
"Isn't that similar to how they enhance people at birth." Daga asks suddenly shifting in her chair.  
  
"Yes, it's the same process I know, but you can be enhanced at any age. A splicer, on the other hand, is only made in the test tub and can change into one specific animal. It's difficult to tell because you won't know you're a splicer until you reach ages 8 or 9."  
  
"Will we encounter one these splicers if we go on a few missions?" Heero asks bringing a new subject to everyone's attention. There's a long pause as Shimi's face turns somewhat glum yet serious.  
  
Her voice comes out soft, but scratchy like she had something caught in it. "I pray that you will never have to face something like that. Heero." She looks down a moment before making eye contact with him again. "Fox. is the only one who has gone up against a splicer and lived to tell about it. Um. it's because of the splicers that we're down to just us. Your friend Mr. Winner was very fortunate to have ShadowBall there in time to save him, but even then Fox said that the splice was overwhelming and he nearly lost. They're getting more powerful."  
  
Trowa considers what Shimi had just said. She seemed uneasy talking about the splicer issue like a parent trying to tell a kid that there dog was hit by a car and wasn't coming back. He leans forward in his chair resting his elbows on the table. He lets his hair cover most of his face so she wouldn't be able to read his eyes which she seemed to be very good at since they met. Quatre told me ShadowBall killed the assassin not Fox. unless Fox is a splicer and Shimi's trying to conceal her partner's secret.  
  
"Well since this Osprey endangers the peace of earth and the colonies Wufei and I have to get involved, so we're glad to have some help even though eventually Noin and Wind will get involved." Sally takes out a few papers and put them on the table in front of her. "Shimi and I had a talk about what bases to hit and there are three types she agreed was ok to hit."  
  
Sally motions toward Trowa who gets up and turns out the lights. Pictures of buildings show up on the computer screen. "We have to hit the old manufacturing plants that were used to make the mobil suits and Gundanium used to construct the gundams in the colony cluster L1, the old labs in colony clusters L2- L5, and then we'll regroup before we try the bases on earth." Trowa flips on the lights and continues to stay standing at the door.  
  
"It's too risky to go by yourselves, so I believe we should split up into teams. I'll leave that up to you." Sally smiles closing the discussion. Everyone gets up soon considering what colony cluster they should be assigned to.  
  
*****  
  
Wufei watches his friends a moment before deciding to speak. "I believe you two haven't properly introduced yourselves to us." Everyone stops and looks at Wufei because of his sudden outburst.  
  
The pilot studied them all briefly, as it confirming their identity by his own standards, and then gave a curt nod. "I guess you're right." Niko smiles his Australian accent strong. "Niko. Niko Nightwind, pilot of the Gundam Fallen Angel."  
  
"Nightwind? That isn't a name. And Fallen Angel? Well you already look weak, especially with that braid to weigh you down in battle; I never thought I'd meet a man with hair longer than Maxwell's, so I suppose you have-" Wufei didn't even have time to blink before he was punched, decked, kneed in the balls, and pushed onto the floor.  
  
Niko then called out in a singsong voice, "At least I still have a Gundam and don't think that it is my reincarnated spouse, you poor little sexist. Any other comments about my name? Anyone? No?" Duo looks at Niko pleased to find someone just like him. "Fox might have looked and acted like you, but he let people prove themselves before judging them."  
  
Daga looks at Niko a moment not surprised by her old partner's actions and couldn't blame him; she clears her throat to cut the growing tension in the room. "I'm Datania Nokomis Layla Morgan Diana Garnet Kasai Raye Sabaku Suisei Safaia Kuri." She turns to the guys. "But most people just call me Spitfire or Daga and I pilot Kasai. Can you believe, when we first met Niko couldn't say "dagger" straight, so you can understand why it's my nickname, for obvious reasons."  
  
"You named your Gundam after yourself? How weak," retorts Wufei. Daga was about to start up one of her rants of rage before she noticing Wufei's obsidian eyes were becoming black around the outside of them and decides to be sarcastic instead.  
  
"Well, it seems as though you're the weak one here. As I remember you weren't tied down during your beating." Wufei looks like he was about to explode.  
  
"Wufei, that's enough." Sally calls out before something started. "This isn't the time to be fighting." They look at each other a moment before Wufei seems to calm down agreeing what she said.  
  
"Fine. pick your partners." Wufei says before walking out of the room.  
  
"I guess it's safe to say Wufei and I are still partners for this mission. Niko, Daga we're going to have to talk about you two still having gundams still. I'll leave you guys to figure this out on your own." Sally hurries out of the room after her partner.  
  
"SSOOOO, who wants to partner up with me?" Shimi says from the corner of the room.  
  
"Sorry Shimi, but I don't think any of us will have enough food to satisfy that pit of yours and have food left for ourselves." Shimi looks completely distraught by Niko's commentary. "Hey, I was just joking Shimi you take things to literal. Maybe if you ask one of the guys they'll be nice besides I was hoping maybe Duo and I could be partners since we work so well together already."  
  
"I don't eat that much." She looks down shyly a moment. "Fine! As always I'll take who's left." She looks up annoyed this time as she stuffs her hands in her pocket then pulls out a pack of sunflower seeds from her pocket. She opens them roughly and eats them slowly one by one.  
  
"You can work with me, Shimi." Trowa says speaking for the first time all day.  
  
"Really Trowa?" She smiles seeing that he meant it. "He picked me! AHH!" She jumps for joy screaming and runs over to Duo. Grabbing his hands she twirls around the room with him. Niko joins in, but Daga keeps her distance all the while finding it hilarious.  
  
"Why did you pick her, anyway?" Heero asks as he watches the three do another round around the room. "I wouldn't have minded."  
  
"I think I can get some more information out of her without her getting suspicious." Heero glances at Trowa a moment before turning back to the ruckus on the other side of the room.  
  
"Is that the only reason?" Shimi without warning runs to Trowa and gives him a long hug pinning his arms to his sides.  
  
"Thank you for picking me." She squeezes harder with unexpected strength that surprised Trowa when he started to loose feeling in his arms and lower body.  
  
Daga notices Trowa's arms start to turn purple. "Shimi, I know you're a trained assassin, but spare your partner. His lower limes need air as well." Shimi looks at Daga startled by her comment loosening her grip on him. She lets go finally noticing Trowa's arms as they return to there normal color.  
  
Shimi blushes as she apologizes. That explains Fox's behavior to why Fox said her hugs were deadly. Trowa rubs his arms as pins and needles shoot through his lower body. There's more to you, Shimi, then meets the eye.  
  
*****  
  
Quatre makes it to the meeting spot, an oasis about a ways from the village. It was the first place he had rested with Sandrock and was able to enjoy the scenery. He looks around only to see a camel with a passenger come in for a drink. I guess I made it here first.  
  
The passenger gets off and heads in his direction. He stands up curious. "Isn't that a Maganac uniform?" Wait. that's Auda's I'm sure of it. Questioning he runs to him, but as he got closer he realizs it wasn't him.  
  
"I had a feeling you wouldn't recognize me very easily." She says when they were face to face. "I guess you're a little surprised. I didn't want to wear those revealing clothes anymore. I feel almost naked in them."  
  
"Where did you get that uniform from?"  
  
"A guy named Auda lent me his spare after the girls told him my story about me getting my luggage stolen."  
  
"That's terrible, who would do such a thing?"  
  
"I don't know, but I just think its some kids playing a dirty joke on me." She looks up at him, but her gaze never reaches his face. She takes a hold of his hand and pulls him forward. "Come I made lunch."  
  
"I'll race you." Quatre says running ahead of her.  
  
"Hey! That's cheating. Quatre!" She runs after him.  
  
*****  
  
Rashid looks at the sky as the sun begins to set as he stands at the entrance to the village. The flowing red, orange, and yellow waves in the sun remind him of Hiyami's hair and her hot personality when she flirted. He wonders to himself still remembering the last day he talked to her. Where did you go off to? And why? He looks away from the colors when he hears footsteps behind him. "Quatre ran off again hasn't he?"  
  
"Um hum. I wonder where Quatre goes off to. It's almost dark and he hasn't come home yet." They decide to sit and wait for him. The sun turns bright orange as it descends over the horizon.  
  
"This isn't interfering with his mission." Abdul asks after a pause.  
  
"No, actually he has broken 5 more passwords in the past few weeks, but his running of worries me. There were so many attempts on his life lately that I don't like the fact of him going off on his own."  
  
"This vacation cover up isn't going to last long. It's been over a month."  
  
"I know. we'll have to think of something else later. How have you been doing? This if the first time I have seen you all day."  
  
"I've been getting nothing, but the special treatment since we got here. I can finally walk without my cane now." A camel appears in the distance coming at a high speed toward them. As it comes closer, it's clear it has two passengers. The camel stops in front of them and Quatre calmly climbs down. "Thanks for the ride back, Wulan."  
  
"It was no trouble at all for me to bring you back." Her voice is kind, but emotionless as she talks and her eyes are calm. Her face, however, was covered by the hood that she wore. She turns to Rashid and Abdul. "My apologies for keeping Mr. Winner away so long" Quatre introduces them to each other.  
  
"That's quit alright." Rashid looks at her closely with a hint of suspicion. So, she's the friend he's been secretly meeting.  
  
"I do have to say I wasn't expecting a girl, Quatre." Abdul says teasing.  
  
"Why does it surprise you? I'm a person just like you or is it because I look so young?" Wulan half laughs as she continues. "I promise you I'm sixteen years old going on seventeen in November." She turns back to Quatre. "I hope you will grace me with your presents tomorrow, Mr. Winner. I bid you goodnight."  
  
"Bye Wulan," Quatre watches her leave "I just wish she wouldn't be so formal."  
  
"So, you were spending all your time with that girl, huh. I didn't know you were dating already." Abdul says as they start walking from the village entrance.  
  
"I wouldn't exactly call them dates. We just talk actually and have fun. It's what she would call hanging out." Quatre soon notices that Rashid looked a bit upset as he looked at him. "Sorry Rashid, I guess that I was being a little juvenile. I hope you weren't standing here long waiting for me." They stop letting Abdul into his short-term house as they say their goodnights. Quatre and Rashid continue walking.  
  
"It's dangerous to be out without one of us to protect you. Especially now" Rashid says sternly, "No more running off, Quatre, We don't want anything bad to happen to you."  
  
"I understand," Quatre takes his punishment, "Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."  
  
"You can still see your friend, Quatre; just make sure it's a place were we can easily find you." They stop at the house Quatre was temporarily using to stay in until they decided to move on. He says good night before entering. By now the sun had completely set and the village was being consumed by the coming night. He walks to his room and doesn't waste any time on trying to figure out the last password to get full access to all of Fox's files.  
  
After a while, he calls it a night and decides to go to bed early so he could catch Wulan in the morning. He chooses not to put away the laptop right away. Leaving it on he changes into his pajamas. His mind drifts as he brushes his teeth.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"This is strange." Wulan said after Quatre handed back a few of her drawings. She'd done them during the mobile suit battle before the surrender, of the Mariemaia incident. "I have this feeling I've met you before." They lie on their backs in the shade of one of the few trees in the oasis.  
  
Quatre looked up at her stunned a moment, but then considers it. "Come to think about it you remind me of a girl I. met during the war, but she died though. in an explosion."  
  
There's a long pause. Wulan stared at him hard a moment as though trying to remember something very important. "You say it as though it's your fault, Mr. Winner."  
  
Quatre's face fills with sadness. "It. it was my fault. The explosion resulted from something I did."  
  
"Was it intentional?"  
  
"No, I didn't. I didn't think. I didn't want that to happen." Quatre said in frustration. He turned on his stomach looking gloomy his face riddled with guilt.  
  
"Then it was an accident." He glanced at her before looking down. "I understand the guilt, but you can't let it eat at you." She moved some of his bangs with the back of her hand and rests her hand on the side of his face. "Quatre, to error is human, so if you don't error well. I don't know what you are."  
  
She smiled then removing her hand from the side of his face she messed up his hair. "Ok, I understand."  
  
"You know I don't understand you, Mr. Winner. You'd think with puppy dog eyes like that you'd at least have a girlfriend by now." He looked up at her confused. "Come on, look at you your adorable. You're right up their with the care bears heck you can be a whole new breed." He blushed at her comment.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quatre finds himself blushing again as he looks in the mirror. Wait, what's a care bear? I'll ask her tomorrow. He walks back to his room after he finished brushing his teeth. He stops by the laptop to turn it off, but stops when he notices something in the corner of the screen her didn't notice before. He clicks on it and a folder shows up. Opening the folder he sees a lot of documents. I must have unlocked it and didn't know.  
  
He opens a document marked Desert Storm. He's astounded at what he finds. These are plans for a gundam. He opens four more that were also plans for gundams. He pulls up a chair and sits down. 


	12. By Romantic Means

Gundam Wing Episode 12 *By Romantic Means* 11:39am  
  
A Caribbean girl removes the hood off her head her black hair buffs up in front where her bangs had grown too long to be in front. I just thank God I was wrong about this village being an Osprey base. As she walks her face turns serious. A group of kids were throwing something that shimmered like a knife. She walks closer getting a closer look. Damn it how did those kids get a hold of that?  
  
She walks right up to them. "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you." All the kids jump at the sound of her voice. Knowing they were in trouble the group scatters. The leader, however, didn't get away as easily as the others. She snatches him up like a fumbled football. He struggles to get out of her grip, but she holds him firmly tucked under her arm like a text book. "Fahd, you won't get in trouble if you just give back what's rightfully mind. That's no ordinary ball."  
  
He pulls free from her after giving up the silver ball. She watches him run off. Great, now I have to check my stuff again. Why am I being so careless lately? She walks slowly along the street, but she stops noticing a few Maganacs go into one of the buildings. Looks like they're having some kind of meeting. She watches them closely. Quatre's friends probably found my plans for my gundams. This isn't good. I wonder where they're going. She decides to advance more towards the building. She casually begins to cross the street, but something tells her to stop. Now in the middle of the street, she stands still ignoring the traffic of the bustling village. Someone's watching me. but where. Slowly turning her eyes soon make contact with two bulky guys that were staring at her from the side of the street from which she came. I have a bad feeling about this.  
  
"Wulan!" she turns startled at the sound of her name to find two friendly blue-green eyes of a familiar platinum blond. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."  
  
"That's ok; I was just going to look for you."  
  
"Really that's great. I have a surprise for you." Taking her hand Quatre leads her inside and walks her into an almost empty room. The walls were plain. There were a few barrels against the walls. It was obvious the room was being used for food storage. The only other thing was the rug in the corner of the floor. "You have to close your eyes."  
  
"But here's nothing here."  
  
"Please, can you do it for me?" She gives him a strange look. "Please" Her calm face softens as she takes one last look around the room before sighing and closing her eyes. He opens a trap door in the floor after moving the rug and making sure she wasn't looking. He helps her down a few steps before closing the door behind him. Taking her hand again the carefully walks her down the stares. "You're not peeking are you?"  
  
"No" they reach the end of the stares. They soon reach a room that held the Maganacs old mobil suits. They pass by the plump Sa Da Ool as they enter a hallway. He's taken by surprise to see Quatre with Wulan. He didn't say a word as they pass him. The longer they walk the curious Wulan gets. "Where are you taking me?"  
  
"Don't worry we're almost there, just don't peek, ok"  
  
"Master Quatre" Quatre turns to Abdul as well as a handful of Maganac trail behind him look interested with the ground looking girl he had with him.  
  
"And where did you pick her up? Isn't she a little young for you?"  
  
"It's nothing like that honest." Quatre starts to blush as they look at him a bit skeptical. "Um." He moves away from Wulan, so she wouldn't hear. "Is everything ready?"  
  
"Yes master, you won't have to wait long for the food." Quatre who gives a sigh of relief then takes her hand and they disappear down the darkened hall. He stops in the designated room he's set up for them.  
  
"Are we there yet, Mr. Winner?" Wulan asks her voice curious and as kind as cotton is to the skin.  
  
"Yes, you can open your eyes now." He watches her face closely ford any sign of enjoyment. He watches her as she walks around the small candle lit table in the center of the room. A white rose rests beside her plate.  
  
"This is. beautiful. No one has ever done something like this for me. You're so sweet." He pulls out her seat and she sits down. He then takes his seat across from her pleased with her reaction.  
  
"You really like it?" He asks just to make sure his ears weren't playing tricks on him.  
  
"Yes, Quatre, I love it." She picks up the rose and smells it. As Abdul said, he and the other Maganacs arrived with the food.  
  
*****  
  
"What's this meeting for, Heero?" Shimi asks confused. Heero had called them all to meet all of a sudden. It was the beginning of lunch and everyone just finished getting there food when he called this meeting. Instead of wolfing it down everyone decided to take their food with them. They all settle back in the room which they had met in before. Heero sits on a stool in front of the room sharing the table in front of him with Wufei, Sally, and Trowa. The table behind them held Daga, Shimi, Niko, and Duo.  
  
"We should be in groups of four not two. I feel it's safer."  
  
Everyone's shocked at his sudden concern for everyone's safety. Shimi's shock turns to disappointment. "But it'd take longer for us to check out all these areas."  
  
"If I'm right, Fox has already cleared the L1, 2, and maybe even the L3 colony clusters. I remember with the information you gave us, one of the places happened to be close to the zoo where we met."  
  
"Come to think of it Fox was gone a lot. That would explain why he couldn't get up in the mornings." Duo says remembering.  
  
"So that leaves the L4 and 5 colony clusters?" Daga starts drinking her milkshake after stealing a few fries from Shimi while she wasn't looking. "Was Fox ever gone for a long period of time that you know of, Niko?"  
  
"We'll have to check with Quatre or better yet Rashid because he gave him the most trouble." Niko replies watching in amazement as Shimi stuffs two Long John Silver's fight in her mouth at once. No matter how many times I see that I'll never get used to it.  
  
Then that settles it. We have to contact Quatre. Heero says watching Dup shoot his empty cup into the trash like a basketball.  
  
*****  
  
Wulan exits the building and says goodbye to Quatre. He looks disappointed about her as she runs off. He turns to go back inside as Wulan stops a moment looking back. She sighs and runs back unusually fast then she started catching him with a kiss on the cheek before he went in. Before the blonde could react she was gone down the street. He stands there stunned.  
  
Wulan's speed increases the longer she runs. She skids to a stop behind a bunch of houses and takes out the silver ball out of her pocket. Two sets of glowing eyes, one silver the other gold, silently watch from the roof of one of the buildings.  
  
"That has to be her. What do you think, Yun?"  
  
"I believe you're right, Amaya, but something bothers me." Amaya looks at her partner a moment. He knew Yun had a hunch for certain things. It was like a sixth sense.  
  
"He probably got sick of the girl's mouth. I hear she doesn't know her place."  
  
"I don't know it seems a little too easy that's all." Without hesitating any longer they separate going in different directions to block any ways of escape for her and at the same time staying out of sight.  
  
*****  
  
Wulan takes the silver ball in her palm a moment almost like she was examining it. "Why hello Sophia" She turns startled to hear a voice behind her.  
  
"Huh?" She takes a step back from the worrier woman before addressing herself. "I'm sorry, you have the wrong person. My name is Wulan, but if you want to talk, we'll have to talk tomorrow. I have as important call I have to take."  
  
Without another glance at Amaya she turns her back on her. As though she didn't know Amaya was behind her Wulan walks away. Wrong thing to do bitch! She removes her double bladed sword from its carrier then stops Wulan in her tracks by putting the blade to her throat. "You know you shouldn't turn your back on someone with a sword, that's shear stupidity."  
  
"I don't take kindly to people who mess up my appointments."  
  
"Now, you have an appointment with Master Li."  
  
Master Li? . Li Wulan's eyes grow large.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
A little girl dressed in a green T-shirt, blue jeans, and matching tennis shoes ran up to a man working on a gundam. She jumped on his back which startled him. "Daddy, Daddy, DADDY!"  
  
"Ok, ok you got my attention." He said half laughing then reaching behind him grabbed the back of her shirt and pulls her off his back. The man's dark brown eyes were playful, but serious. He wore a white T-shirt and jeans like his daughter. "Now young lady, what's so important that you have to jump on my back for."  
  
He hung her in the air in front of him like a coat would hang from a hook on the wall. "I want you to meet Li."  
  
"Lo huh," He looked to his right just now noticing Li beside him. All the boy's clothes were rags. His eyes were wild, but seemed to be focused like he was waiting. For a moment the girl's father's eyes lost all play and turned to suspicion.  
  
"Pleased to meet you." He held out his free hand out for a hand shake, but Li just looked at it like it was a feign object.  
  
"He's a full blooded Chinese, Daddy." She whispered to her father.  
  
"Oh, that explains it." He put a hand on the boy's head. "I bet you're hungry, kid. Just go and get something to eat from the kitchen." Without a word Li walked away after being pointed in the right direction.  
  
The girl's father watched him carefully as he leaves. "What's the matter, Daddy?"  
  
"Hum, something in the boy's eyes says he's trouble, that's all, Sophia."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
No. But it can't be. It just couldn't be. Could it?  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Sophia, I want you to stay here while we go up."  
  
"Yes father. I'll wait for you to return." Sophia looks into his eyes and smiles.  
  
"Come Maverick, it's time to go," says a brunette with the eyes of a confident thief. Maverick gives Sophia a kiss on the cheek before leaving. She watches her father go up with the woman and Li. Li turns to look at her, but there was something evil in his eyes that made her shiver. She didn't wait very long before she knew something was wrong.  
  
"Why do I smell blood?" before she could move she something fell from one of the windows of the building. It hit a driving car making it to swerve to a stop. Her heart beat quickened. Her feet having a mind of there own make it to where the group had gathered. She pushed through the crowd. Her heart stopped when her eyes rested on her father. "Daddy"  
  
She fell to her knees beside him. Sophia took his hand while she cried. Two hands rest on her shoulders. Li was trying to comfort her. He pulled her hands from her father and hugged her. "I'm sorry Sophia. It's my fault. Your father, he protected me and." Her crying drowned out the rest of his words.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
How Could I have been so stupid? Why didn't I see this before? Daddy did and I let Li kill everyone and I was oblivious like a stupid child. It's all my fault everyone's dead. That proves it I can't trust anyone from the outside. no one. I'll find him and make him pay. I'll make them all pay for what they did to me! Fury rises in Wulan's eyes like a pot of soup that was beginning to boil over. Her eyes become wild and turn animal like. The animal in her slowly begins to take over.  
  
Not caring there was a sword to her throat she grabs the blade as you would a stick and turns. Her hands change to claws with her free claw goes for her neck. Amaya jumps back in surprise ripping the blade out of her claw. Blood flows almost immediately.  
  
Ok, she's been enhanced, be more careful. Wulan lunges at her quicker then she expected. She manages to get her claws into Amaya's neck. Amaya staggers back clutching her neck. She tries in vane to stop the river of blood that started to flow. She looks around, still keeping an eye on Wulan. Where the hell is Yun? I need his help.  
  
Amaya looks into her eyes of her pursuer. Her eyes are no longer human as they began to glow blue in the evening sun. "The hunter has now become the hunted. HOW DOES IT FEEL?! ARE YOU SCARED YET?" her voice is half human half animal.  
  
Taking a chance she takes her sword and lunges an all out assault on Wulan. Normally a person wouldn't be able to dodge at such close range, but her speed seemed to have increased as she became more animal like. Amaya knew better then to panic, but she knew she couldn't win at this rate. She was getting tired and dizzy from the loss of blood.  
  
Like a football player, Wulan tackles Amaya to the ground. Amaya shields her neck with her sword from Wulan's wild attacks. Her claws sling against the metal. At this rate my sword might brake. She feels her fear surfacing. Yun where are you? Yun finally decides to jump down from the roof to help. "Yun, get her off me, she's, she's crazy." Her voice chocked with fear and blood when she sees her partner come to her aid.  
  
Yun hammers her on the head with his power bow. Instead of knocking her out, she turns on him. Tossing his bow aside, he counters with claws of his own. Their hands are locked together in a power struggle. "You fight as though you're a wild animal, not swift and calm like the worrier Fox I heard so much about. I guess my hunch about you two being the same person was a mistake."  
  
Her eyes grow large as they return to normal; she begins to sweat as though she woke up from a bad dream. What am I doing? This isn't me. Yun takes advantage of the momentary distraction. He digs his claw into her stomach. As though she was a worm on a hook, throws her through a nearby window after freeing a claw. He stares at the broken window a second before going to help Amaya.  
  
"We'll have to try later." Just then something silver catches his eye beside his partner. What's this? He picks it up. She dropped it. Amaya's gasping for air brings him out of his thoughts. Yun quickly stuffs the ball in his pocket and carefully picks up Amaya and carries her off into the sunset.  
  
*****  
  
Wulan lies stunned and wide eyed on the floor. Her stomach burns from where Yun had dug his claw into her. Her hand stopped bleeding some time into the power struggle with Yun. It was throbbing growing hotter by the minute. She curls up in a ball ignoring the pain almost to frighten to move. What's gotten in to me? It, it was like I couldn't control it.  
  
~~~~~ Flash~~~~~  
  
"You could have got yourself killed! Fox, you know you can't control that form as well as I can. You still need training in that area." Shimi gets up and looks at the claw mark carved in his face. "Until I train you, you have to promise me you won't use it anymore or soon you'll lose control."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
She permits her eyes to focus on the area around her. It was dark now, but her eyes allowed her to see her surroundings. The room was empty. It didn't look like anyone had lived in it a while. Staying put, she closes her eyes and drifts into an uneasy sleep.  
  
*****  
  
Rashid sits with Quatre in front of the laptop. With Heero on the other end, they had discussed the meetings in which he and the other pilots had had. Quatre's remained the same, find out what was in the laptop and learn as much as he could about Fox. Wufei wouldn't let go of his belief that Fox and Sophia are the same person. For some reason, Heero was uncertain on the matter. Something seemed inaccurate with the information that he had.  
  
"Come to think of it he was gone sometimes. Why do you ask?" Rashid asks.  
  
"I think Fox might have done the areas in your colony cluster." Heero says his thoughts still drifting a bit.  
  
"But remember Fox most likely left sooner then he expected when you guys arrived, so we still need to check that area." Quatre announces to Heero. There's silence for a moment before he continues. "If you want I'll check some old OZ area's that are still around here if you want."  
  
"No, it's too risky. We need the information from the laptop. I believe at the moment that's more important."  
  
"I understand Heero. The gundam plans that I found however can't be faxed to you until I crack the last code. Over and out"  
  
*****  
  
Trowa steps out of the shower then wraps a towel around his waste. He walks to the fogged up mirror. His wet brown hair sticks to the side of his face. Taking his toothbrush, he places toothpaste on his toothbrush thinking clearly. He starts to brush his teeth. She doesn't act like she's a fighter. more like a child. She doesn't even stand up to Wufei. I honestly don't see how she could fight then again no one would think Quatre would be a gundam pilot.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Shimi without warning runs to Trowa and gives him a long hug pinning his arms to his sides. "Thank you for picking me." She squeezes harder with unexpected strength that surprised Trowa when he started to loose feeling in his arms and lower body.  
  
Daga becomes aware of Trowa's arms start to turn purple. "Shimi, I know you're a trained assassin, but spare your partner. His lower limes need air as well." Shimi looks at Daga startled by her comment loosening her grip on him. She lets go finally noticing Trowa's arms as they return to there normal color.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
She is very strong. Trowa turns sharply as the sound of someone behind. A familiar looking brunette stares shyly at him holding a towel.  
  
"I um. thought you might need an extra towel for your hair since I used up all the extra towels in here" She looks at her feet. "I didn't think you'd get done so soon."  
  
He takes the towel says thank you after spiting in the sink. Trowa assumes she must have seen him come out of the shower. Trowa rinses out his brush and puts it back in its case. He turns back around to see Shimi still standing there. Her eyes are fixated on him for a moment before looking away. "You can go now, Shimi."  
  
"Oh sorry" Embarrassed she dashes out the bathroom.  
  
*****  
  
Yun watches Amaya's breathing carefully. She had finally fallen asleep after being awake for forty-eight hours of being in pain. He stands by her bed for a while thinking drugs finally started to work. He turns away from her when a familiar sent of someone enters the room. "How is she, Yun?"  
  
A tall cloaked man walks close to the bed which Amaya was sleeping on. He feels the bandages on her neck. "She's going to be out of commission for a wile, I'm afraid."  
  
"Fox did this."  
  
"No, it was the girl" The man's head turns to Yun most likely surprised by his answer.  
  
"I see. well, now I really want to test my strength against this girl if she can do this to one of my best students. "How did you fare against her, Yun?"  
  
"We were even, Master Cobra, but something was off in her eyes. I believe she was in a rage and she can't handle her human form.  
  
"That's quite unfortunate." Two men come bursting into the room. The manner in which they entered showed they didn't belong to their group. They had come from Black Zoë and had been recently enhanced. They were bulky arrogant guys, but they know how to fight. Because they were so large, they believed they were better then everyone else.  
  
"It's obvious; they were too weak to capture a little girl." The two were dressed in white t-shirt and blue jean shorts. It was obvious the two weren't related. They both were around five foot nine. One had brown hair and green eyes. The other had hazel with red hair.  
  
"Don't underestimate her because she looks small," Yun says calmly. "She's stronger then she looks."  
  
"Chris is right, so quit making excuses. It's our turn." Chris's partner's hazel eyes flash with confidence as he talks.  
  
"It's better it we wait and think of a strategy before attacking her again. You shouldn't be so hasty, George."  
  
"You had your chance, Yun." George says warning in his voice daring Yun not to test his authority again. When Yun doesn't George gets a smug look on his face and exits. "Come on, Chris; time to pick up where these guys left off."  
  
Yun scowls after them as they leave. "Honestly Master Cobra, must we put up with their juvenile behavior?"  
  
"I know how you feel, but joining with Black Zoë we have to put up with them. We won't be seeing them again, anyway." Cobra takes the hood off his head. He had black hair that continued down his back, but because of his cloak you had no way of knowing where it stopped. His eyes were an unusual crimson red color. "We'll leave now. I want nothing to do with their dishonorable way of fighting. I don't want you to fight her again until your sister's healed completely and is up to speed with you."  
  
"Yes, Master Cobra." Yun stares at his master's mouth as he talked as her always did. The long fangs reminded him of a vampire which for come reason always fascinated him. Cobra carefully picks up Amaya of the bed and walks to the door.  
  
"Are you going to watch my fangs all day, Yun, or are you going to come." Blushing Yun follows his master out the door after snatching his power bow off the wall.  
  
*****  
  
There's a knock on Quatre's door and he answer's it surprised to see Wulan at the door, but his face fills with concern when he sees her gloomy expression. "Wulan, what's wrong? You look sad." He lets her in.  
  
"I have to leave tomorrow." Her voice comes out airy and sad.  
  
"So soon." Quatre's face turns to disappointment. "Where are you going?" They walk to his bed room to talk more.  
  
"I have to go back to China. Besides my uncle is most likely worried about me, I haven't called him in. almost, two months."  
  
They go out on the roof and look at the stars thinking. "How about I give you my number and you can call me."  
  
She shakes her head. "My job is. it's very demanding. I have to invest all my time in it. You know what I mean you own your own business yourself." He sighs knowing that she was right. There's an awkward pause.  
  
"You know when you said you had a feeling that we had met before."  
  
"Hum" Quatre turns to look at her.  
  
"I had that same feeling when we first bumped into each other that day at the market." She smiles at him. "But I have no clue where and I was hoping to figure it out before I had to leave."  
  
"I was thinking the same thing."  
  
"We'll meet up again. I know that much." They both exchange smiles before turning back to looking at the stars. Wulan whines; her voice comes out in a sad whisper. "There are some things. about my job that forces me to do things. I. hate to do."  
  
Quatre looks at her confused a moment startled by his friend's strange remark. She did say her job was confidential and she couldn't tell me what it was. I shouldn't ask.  
  
"I guess I better go. It's getting late I'll need my rest for tomorrow."  
  
"O. k, then," he gets up and enters the window first. As Wulan enters after him her foot slips and she falls forward. Quatre turns around when her he hears her gasp. Their lips meet when she falls into his arms. Their eyes grow wide realizing their current position. They pull away, but not completely.  
  
They look into each other's eyes. Like two magnets they kiss. Long passionate kisses as they wrap there arms around each other. Wulan unbuttons his shirt as he removes his vest. He genially pushes her down on the bed tossing his shirt on the floor. She removes her top. Quatre places his hand on her bra strap, and she entwines her hand with his and moves it down her arm insuring him it was ok to do so.  
  
*****  
  
Quatre wakes up when the light of the sun hits his eyes. The memories of last night was like a fading dream. He sits up realizing he was alone in bed. He gets out of bed and quickly looks out the window hoping to see her there, but he knew the shutters would have been open by now. She did say she had to leave. He sighs. Maybe there's still time to catch her.  
  
Quatre goes to his drawer and changes his pants. After putting on a new shirt and vest, he notices his bottom drawer was open a crack. That's strange. I thought I closed it. He opens it. No. it's gone. She wouldn't. would she?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Wulan sighs; her voice comes out in a sad whisper. "There are some things. about my job that forces me to do things. I. hate to do."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~Flash~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
He rips through his bottom drawer throwing out his neatly folded cloths. But it was to no prevail, the laptop was gone. 


	13. Regretful Decisions

Disclaimer: Ok, I'm going to keep writing and posting, but someone. Please R & R. thank you.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 13 *Regretful Decisions* 11:39am  
  
"I, I can't believe I was such a fool."  
  
"Quatre, don't blame yourself." Sa Da Ool and a bunch of Maganacs crowd around a table to listening in.  
  
"How can I not?" Quatre says frustrated and miserable. ". I let the guys down. They were counting on me to crack the codes and all I was good for was to get it stolen."  
  
"Don't worry Master Quatre we'll help you find her and get the laptop back." Abdul says patting him on the shoulder.  
  
Just then Auda walks in. "No one's seen anyone leave the village that matched her description so most likely she's still here." Quatre sighs as he stands up. Abdul and Auda watch as he sadly leaves the room.  
  
*****  
  
Wulan watches Quatre exit the building miserable. I'm sorry Quatre. She closes the shutters of the little attic window that over saw his building. Turning away from the window, she leans on the wall next to it. She curls up in a ball hugging the laptop still remembering Quatre's tender nuzzle and powerful kisses. You did the right thing. She gets up forcing the memory to the side, but at the same time keeping it close.  
  
She snatches the backpack in the center taking out clothes to change in. After changing, she puts her hair in an unbraided ponytail then changes the shape of her eyes with make up to look Egyptian. Time to make sure I've cleaned up all the trash I accidentally brought with me.  
  
*****  
  
A green eyed, black hair Chinese man enters the pool area. He lies in a lawn chair and begins soaking up the sun's rays. He puts on sunglasses to block out the sunlight. Out of nowhere someone's shadow blocks out the sun.  
  
Annoyed he takes off his glasses only to look into the same green eyes. "Brother!" He sits up in surprise. "How have you been?"  
  
"Don't play innocent! What do you want, Li?"  
  
"Must you always suspect me of doing something wrong to have to go on vacation?" Li's twin looks at him more now with suspicion. "This is a real vacation. I give you my word; ask grandfather if you don't believe me. He suggested it."  
  
"Let me guess, you want to switch places again." He looks at Li this time with more of an understanding, this time.  
  
"Not this time." Pip's answer shocks Li.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Last time we switched you nearly raped a girl, remember. Wufei hasn't looked at me the same since. We were good friends." There was a long pause as Pip sat down next to his brother.  
  
"Fine, I understand. You know I hate being the oldest because I have to take up the family business. You, on the other hand, get to be what ever you want. What are you now, a police chief?"  
  
"Anyway even if we do change places, grandfather would figure us out. He's the only one who can tell us apart." Pip stands up and looks at his brother a moment. "Brother something doesn't' make sense to me. Why are you after Mr. Quatre Winner?"  
  
"Why am I after Mr. Winner, you ask." Li laughs making his brother cringe a bit. Pip had seen this side of his brother before and knew he won't stop until he gets what he wants. "Remember little brother, Mr. Winner is Arabic. The business goes to the first born son. He has no brother. With him gone, we can take control of the satellites easily."  
  
*****  
  
Why would she steal it? Quatre thinks to himself as he walks through the village. And. what would she use it for? He tries to figure it out, but something seemed to be blocking it. Why can't I figure it out? Fox is somewhere here, I just know it. Something that. Heero said.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Shimi and Fox are the only one's left in there group."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
I know that means something, but what does it mean? He sighs and looks up in the sky then he hears a small ringing in his left ear. He reaches for his ear when something catches his eye, someone familiar. It couldn't be could it? He runs off in the direction of the person.  
  
Quatre soon stops at the side of the building which the person he followed was talking to two men who were on the opposite building. Somehow, he manages to climb the building. He feels his heart pounding as he watches her. She wore a similar cowgirl outfit the day she came. It's her.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
A look of concern crossed the young girl's face. She removed her cowgirl hat and laid it on the table beside Quatre. "Are you sure you want this suit, Mr. Winner, how about this one?" She switched to a different to a different gundam model on her laptop.  
  
"Does it have the same power?"  
  
"No, but-"  
  
"Then I want the gundam I picked." Quatre was completely unreadable. He seemed to be half listening.  
  
"I know your father's death was a shock. Right now, you're in no condition to pilot anything especially Wing Zero. That gundam's way too powerful. You won't be-"  
  
"That's what I want, Sophia." His no feeling eyes turn glassy. He balls up his fists. "Can you please. just, just do this for me, please?" Tears stream down his face. Sophia sits in his lap so that they were face to face her knees rest on the seat of the chair. She wipes the tears from his face and hugs him. He hugs back.  
  
"Mr. Winner. I'll make both and you can take Desert Storm and I'll take Wing Zero. You won't be able to handle the Zero System, so trust me ok."  
  
"Maybe, maybe you're right."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Quatre lets out a breath he forgot he was holding. But, how did she survive?  
  
*****  
  
"Just come quietly and maybe Chris won't hurt the boy too much" George says with a devious smile as Chris came out holding a familiar dark haired little boy in a choke hold.  
  
She pushes back the rage that started to build to build inside her. "Let Fahd go! This is between you and me! I want no innocence involved in this!"  
  
"Then just come over here and Chris will leave something to pick up." Chris takes a switch blade out of his pocket.  
  
The little boy gasps as the cold metal touches his neck. His eyes double in side. "Wulan!"  
  
Instead of waiting to see what was going to happen next, she reaches for her belt. She throws something that shines in the light as it splits. Fahd closes his eyes and cringes hearing the metal slice overhead. The blade falls away from his neck as well as Chris's grip on him. Chris falls on top of Fahd almost smothering him.  
  
After pulling himself out from under the large man, he scoots slowly away from George who was angrily removing a ninja star from his arm. Fahd's hand hits something. He looks down to see Chris's staring back at him. He screams unable to take his eyes off the severed head. His screams stop however, when George jerks him up by his shirt like a cat picks up a kitten. "Let him go or do you want to suffer a similar fate as your friend?"  
  
"I'm not scared of you BITCH. You're just lucky you're on a separate building!" George didn't get a chance to move before a ninja star went thorough his heart. He goes down as three Maganacs make it to help the terrified little boy. She catches the two remaining flying stainless steal stars and carefully puts them back on her belt. At least he'll be safe now. She turns, seeing Quatre on the other side of the building she stands almost frozen. Quatre.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Sophia ran across the platform and skidded to a stop in front of Desert Storm. Her heart jumped when Wing Zero came to life. "Mr. Winner that too dan-" the engines of Zero drown her out as it zooms forward. "Quatre, you won't be able to control it! COME BACK!!... QUATRE!! Darn it ." She gets angry as she watches him leave. "DAMN YOU QUATRE!!!! COME BACK!"  
  
As though he heard her, he does a U- turn. Thank God, he's come back to his senses. To her dismay he stops halfway to the entrance from the hanger.  
  
"Sorry Sophia, but I have to do this on my own." Her eyes grow wide when he raised the buster gun at her and fired. She felt the immense heat of the blast when it passed a ways overhead.  
  
She falls to her knees completely shaken. She turned to see a giant hole in her in the center of her gundam. She turned back to him furious but rational. "Quatre listen to me! The Zero System causes-" A small explosion makes her flinch. She turned back at to her gundam and soon realized the danger she was in. Desert Storm self-destructed.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"You stole Wing Zero from me, Quatre." She gazes at him in shock.  
  
"You remember me, Sophia." His eyes start to water. "I'm so happy to see that you're alive and well." he starts to run to her.  
  
I will never show kindness to anyone, again. That's what my weakness was; I know that now. "No more. You're too weak!" Sophia pulls out a gun and fires. As the bullet grazes the tip of his ear, there's a small explosion that jerks him sideways.  
  
"AH!" Quatre clutches his left ear and everything starts to spin. His vision starts to go out, but he looks up in time to see Sophia jumps off the other side of the building with some kind of yellow board in hand. He could hear Rashid and the others calling his name with great concern. When he feels himself slip, he tried in vain to get a grip on something.  
  
*****  
  
Sophia lands on her hover-board no problem, but the Maganacs head her surrounded at the moment. She was ready to fight until she saw their looks of worry and there shouts. She looks up in horror. Her heart races seeing Quatre fall off the building and before she knew it she'd pushed Abdul and Aladdin. She catches him in her arms. Not stopping, she zips past Quatre's guards continuing out of the village.  
  
*****  
  
Trowa and Shimi sit watching Duo and Niko play Super Smash Brother's Melee. Duo chose Captain Falcon and Niko Zelda. Playing with no items, they're even and time was almost up. Shimi takes her eyes off the action. She looks at Trowa whose deep in thought rather then watching. Maybe Sophia's right about them.  
  
~~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"You might trust them, but they don't trust people as easily as you. You're a girl Shimi. No matter what they say, it's still a man's world. We'll always have to prove ourselves no matter what. always." Sophia sat up in bed then looked at Shimi a moment. She sighed at Shimi when she saw her partner was upset with what was said to her.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't put them down so easily Sophia." She sat next to Sophia almost pleading.  
  
"Sorry. I'm just tired of proving myself to people.; anyway, we don't have time for it. We need a few weeks of training before we start again."  
  
"Then why don't we add them to the training?"  
  
"All they will try to do is get information from us and take the job as though it was there own. They'll just treat us like children. I've had it happen before, but don't blame them. It's just there nature. You're good at acting Shimi, just put on one of your acts."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Maybe I should, it would give me something to do, after all. Shimi takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. "Dooo you have a girlfriend, Trowa?"  
  
"." Trowa glances at Shimi then sits up staring on the couch. She had brought him out of his thoughts. Something about Fox and Sophia didn't add up. For some reason, he couldn't put his finger on it. It was like someone up a blockade and he had trouble getting over it. "Hum?"  
  
"Girlfriend."  
  
"No"  
  
Yes!! Ok, time to work your charm. She moves closer to him. "Do you consider yourself a good kisser, Trowa?" He didn't know what to say. Ho one has ever asked him such a question in his life. He's in complete shock, but he doesn't show it. Something in her eyes told him she already knew, but he didn't know how. It felt like they could read each other's thoughts by just looking at each other. There was something abnormal about her eyes. At the same time, they were extremely beautiful something he never really noticed before. Suddenly, he felt uneasy which was very new for him.  
  
"Don't you ever smile, Trowa, just a little?" Shimi changes to a relaxed sexy voice as she moves closer. "Come on, I know you can talk." He pretends to have more of an interest in what Niko and Duo were doing. Like a cat, she climbs on top of him until they were face to face. "Let's just see how good a kisser you really are, Trowa."  
  
His heart pounds faster then he had ever felt it pound before. He pushes her away as her stands up. This only makes Shimi more ravenous. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him after flattening her body on his.  
  
His eyes grow a bit in surprise then he finally manages to get lose of her grip and staggers to his feet beside the couch. Another smile forms on her face. Trowa could feel himself blushing then realizes Heero had walked in on the whole thing. Shimi walks up to him again and starts to play with the lock of hair that draped over his both eyes from embarrassment. He takes a step back onto the wall.  
  
"I knew you were a good kisser, Trowa." Her voice came out as soft as butter. She turns away from him and exits the room.  
  
*****  
  
She finally stops at the oasis that she and Quatre had met so often before. Laying him under a tree closest to the water, she takes out a handkerchief then soaks it in the water. Walking back, she wipes his face then stops the tip of his ear from bleeding. He'll be safe here until they find him. She watches his chest rise and descends slowly. Why don't I want to leave? ... He's going to wake up soon anyway. I better go.  
  
She intertwines her finger of her left hand with his right instead of leaving. She looks at then noticing how slightly bigger and smoother his hands were to hers. Satisfied she lets go of his hand and takes a gun from her pocket. This way is best I believe. She takes the gun and put it to her head. Quatre tackles her as she pulls the trigger.  
  
There's a moment of silence. Sophia's eyes focus on Quatre's worried eyes. She could feel blood drip down her forehead. Only a flesh wound. Sophia pushes him off. Upon seeing the gun, they both race for it. They both grab the gun at the same time. "LET GO!!"  
  
"Killing yourself isn't the answer, Sophia!"  
  
She manages to snatch it from him, but he grabs her wrist then pins her down. "Why do you care?!"  
  
"Because Wufei and Shimi will be broken hearted if he found out you kill yourself and. so would." He stops himself before he could finish blushing. He lifts her into the sitting position. "So would . I, Sophia."  
  
She looks at him stunned. He pulls her into a hugs. She pulls free again, but this time not as rough. He can't mean it. besides I can't get him involved any more then he already is. Quatre quickly gets up and helps her up. Her face changes to serious. "I have to go." She hands him her gun and walks off.  
  
"Wait" She turns giving one last look at him before running off when he started to follow. He starts to catch up when she disappears. He stops a moment looking in disbelief then continues moving. He soon hits something that sounded like metal. "What's this?"  
  
Just then, he hears a familiar sound. A sound he hadn't heard since the Mariemaia incident, the sound of a mobil suit coming to life. Then, all at once he saw it like someone turning on a light in a dark garage. He stood at the thigh of the gundam. The suit was entirely black only because of the cloak it wore. At the same time the cloak seemed to be part of it like skin or hair would be to a person.  
  
He climbs it when he sees the cockpit's still open. The gundam had sat up and sand continues to fall from it like multiple streams. He makes it to the cockpit as it starts to close. He's surprised to see nothing inside except a ring over head and the platform Sophia's standing on. It felt like walking into a small room.  
  
Sophia sits cross-legged on the platform with her back turned to him. He notices her clothes have changed. It looked like a diver's suit, only deep purple and the neck and shoulders are exposed. On her shoulders is something that looks like blue shoulder pads with two antenna sticking out of each. "Rashid and the others are no doubt worried about you."  
  
"But first tall me why you made gundams in times of peace, Sophia?" the cockpit door closes completely. It becomes black.  
  
"There's no such thing as peace or at least in the way Ms. Relena is trying to achieve, Quatre. There's always some idiot trying to rule it all and Osprey and Black Zoë's no different." Several screens pop up bringing in light. "It's amazing what you can see when you take out the seat of the cockpit. You can even see what's behind you without much problem."  
  
"You still haven't answered my question." Quatre says sternly. She turns around her face showing now.  
  
"If I told you the real reason, you'd think I'm crazy." He looks at her confused. He then sits in front of her.  
  
"I don't care about that. we can help you, but only if you let us." There's a long moment of silence before she continues. She reaches for her book bag in the corner and opens it.  
  
"I have a feeling you guys won't believe me completely until you see it for yourself." She searches through it then takes out a folder. "Here" Quatre takes it, but before he could open it she places her hand on his stopping him. "I want you to open it when I leave because you'll only want to stay longer. Give this to Heero, ok, now go." Both stand up and the cockpit door opens.  
  
"You have to promise you won't kill yourself." She smiles at him then promises. He takes a step outside. He turns to her and smiles. "This gundam's amazing. Next time we meet, I want to know everything about it and how it works. I just hope we don't have to use it."  
  
"First, you scold me about making a gundam and then you compliment me on it." She blushes then gives him a strange look. "You're not normal are you?"  
  
*****  
  
Sophia gives a sigh of relief as she sees her house. Thank God, they didn't move the house. She steps out of the cab after paying the man. She bites her lower lip as the cab drives away. Something tells me I should have walked instead of using a cab.  
  
She walks slowly to the front door. She digs in her pocket for her keys. Great, I can't find my key. She turns and goes to the greenhouse that's attached to the house. When she realizes that the door is also locked she slams her head on the bullet proof glass. Someone really hates me. Taking out a screwdriver she takes the hinges off the door and calmly walks in.  
  
After putting everything back in place, she heads for the back door. The five scientist stand as she enters the kitchen. "Sophia, you're back." S notices she looks a bit down. A look of concern crosses his face.  
  
"And how long did it finally take you to get home?"  
  
Sophia looks wearily at her uncle, but her thoughts were somewhere else. I shouldn't have given Quatre that, but that was the only way to get them off my back. right.  
  
"What's the matter, Sophia?" O walks over to her as she sinks to the floor.  
  
"I can't stay very long." There's a pause as the others are soon all around her. O puts a hand on her shoulder giving her a look of sympathy. "And Shimi. wants to recruit five new people."  
  
"Five new people" He says in surprise.  
  
"Yes and these guys aren't normal. There all a pain in the butt."  
  
"They can't be giving you that much trouble."  
  
"You should know. you're the ones who trained them." Her voice was full of worry instead of anger which she tries to portray.  
  
"One more thing Sophia" Some of the worry escapes her face. She stands up and dusts herself off. "You did bring Shadowschythe with you right." She glances at G.  
  
"He can take care of himself. If he gets curious and moves around and someone finds him, he knows what to do." She walks past him.  
  
"Sophia, I do wish you wouldn't refer to your gundams as though they were people." She turns around looking at each of them annoyed.  
  
"Not this again. Come on H, I'm not crazy. If you would see some of the things they do you'd understand. I did give them AI after all" They all give her strange looks. ".besides a lot of people talk to their cars. I see no difference here."  
  
"Do you need to sit down, sweet heart?" J says. They all start to say words of concern. This makes her angry.  
  
"CUT IT OUT!!! I'M NOT CRAZY!!!" her sudden outburst makes them stop. Her eyes flicker blue a moment then return to normal. She suddenly holds her head. "I'm, I'm sorry. I'm having trouble controlling an anger problem I've seemed to have inherited over this short period of time." She turns away and heads toward the room she missed. They watch her as she softly closes the door behind her.  
  
"Something's bothering her." S starts for her door and knocks not going in. "Sophia, are you hungry? We can get you something and we can talk." There's a long pause. He knocks on the door again. The others soon meet at the door with S.  
  
There's the sound of exploding glass instead of the reply he wanted. Startled he opens the door quickly as more glass erupts into shards and rain down to the floor. The others follow him inside in time to see the mirror shatter. Sophia was waving around an ax like a baseball bat smashing things. Anything that was glass in the room was or was on the verge of being broken.  
  
"Sophia stops; what are you doing?" at first she didn't seem to hear her uncle's pleading. She stops and looks at him as though she'd just saw him for the first time in her life. Her eyes are an angrily blazing blue.  
  
After a moment, her face changes from anger to sorrow. She falls to her knees G takes the ax from her then J shakes her a bit. "Sophia what's wrong with you. Did something happen to you?"  
  
She burst into tears startling them and worrying them more. They circle her like a blanket. Her uncle sits behind her. "Li. he killed them all. He's the leader of Osprey."  
  
They all finally understand and recall that Li was recruited by Sophia when she was younger as a trainee. That's when a wave of death began to infect the team members one by one. Soon after however Li left the team after he was adopted saying he wanted a regular life. He had the responsibility to take on the family business.  
  
O pulls her into a hug. "I know what your thinking and it's not your fault."  
  
"How can you say that? I let him come in and destroy everything he got his grubby little hands on." She closes her eyes. Letting out a gasp she looks to the floor. "I feel like I don't know who I am anymore." She whispers in a small, harsh, airy voice. "I've probably led Quatre and the others into a death trap giving them the location of one of Osprey's bases."  
  
"You sent them on a mission?" H says to her confounded. Sophia shakes her head you yes. Her bangs hide her eyes. "And you feel guilty about that, Sophia."  
  
"Yes. I do." But I don't know why. I promised myself I wouldn't care anymore. There's a long pause. They scoot closer to Sophia.  
  
"If you sent them on a mission, why won't you let them join?" S gives her a curious look. The one that meant he wanted a well thought out explanation and it had to be good.  
  
"I don't want anymore blood then what has to be shed in this behind the screens war. I need no more blood on my hands, that's why I left Shimi with them." She pulls free from her uncle and warily stands. She looks up at S's face to catch his impression. He didn't give a clear appearance of what he was thinking. "Might as well finish Desert Storm"  
  
"I bet you're tired after your long trip ." J helps her to her bed. "Get some rest, Sophia, and then you can finish the work that needs to be done on your gundams."  
  
"I was just waving around an ax like a mad woman wasn't I?"  
  
"Yes, I believe it's safe to say that" H says to her as the other three scientists start to clean up the glass. Sophia rests her head on her pillow.  
  
"Maybe I have gone a little crazy, I guess." She scoffs a little as H sits on the bed next to her. 


	14. The Capture

Disclaimer: Please R & R. Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssse Somebody anybody review. I know its school, maybe even finals for some, but please take at least five seconds out of your reading time to review. I'm trying to make my story somewhat parallel to Niko's so some scenes might be the same as some of hers or very similar, but not much.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 14 *The Capture* 11:39am  
  
Seven pilots enter a familiar building filled with people. Sally and Daga decided to stay behind. It had changed a bit, but they all remember it well enough. A place they all too well remember. All five originals, but one had been prisoners in this very place only it was called something different. The Lunar Base.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Museum of the Last War. Here you will tour an actual base as well as see a few cells used, watch films of the war, and much more." says a woman with silver eyes wearing a blue business woman suit. Her hair mimicked her eye color with the utmost efficiency as it rested on her shoulders. If you look carefully her eyes tell of a bloody past.  
  
A man stood next to her wearing a suit of the same color as hers. His eyes and hair however were an eerie gold color that would make anyone gawk in awe for at least a few seconds, long enough for him to beat you to a pulp or turn you into a pun cushion.  
  
"If you'd please get into groups we can start our tour and everyone will get to see all that we offer here." Hearing this, the pilots casually split up into separate tour groups.  
  
Wufei watches as his comrades get underway. He goes over in his head the map plan of the building in which Quatre had brought with him about two weeks ago. At the same time, he gets a bad feeling. He knew Sophia when she gets fed up with people who annoy her. She'd try and make sure they'd feel they were no match for the foes she was fighting by giving them one of the hardest places to hit. If they got in easy, he knew it's going to be hard as hell to get back out, again. He starts off as his tour guide begins to lead the pack. He gives the impression of being interested, but his mind was elsewhere.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Wufei came from the side room. Seeing Wufei, the cloaked figure slowly removed the hood from his head. "Sophia?" They stare at each other as Sally entered from the side room.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
It might have been only a momentary stare, but something in her eyes told him her long fuse had been lit. He moves again with the group to another exhibit.  
  
*****  
  
Prussian blue eyes stare blankly at the exhibits unimpressed at the so called clay replicas of the gundams. They left out some small details. They were good but to him it wasn't good enough for him. "Heero" he turns to his platinum blond comrade who motions toward the staff only door which was conveniently by a bathroom. While a small film that showed the gundams fighting, they snuck off pretending to go to the bathroom.  
  
It resembles a regular small staff room. There's a round table in the center that would easily hold six chairs in the center. Draped over it is a long black tablecloth that seemed to touch the floor on all sides. Against the wall is a fridge that stood next to a small microwave and sink. A coffee maker sits on the other side of the sink. They look around and finally notice a door to there left. Heero goes to the door, but stops when Quatre hesitates. "What's the mater Quatre?"  
  
"Haven't you noticed; there aren't any covalence cameras around." He looks around the room a bit confused then looks at Heero. The door knob turns when Heero touches it. Both, dash out of sight, Heero behind the door and Quatre under the table. Duo walks through the door.  
  
"Duo" he turns looking at Heero surprised. Hearing Duo's name Quatre comes from his hiding place.  
  
"Duo, how did you get here before we did?"  
  
*****  
  
This is too easy Niko think to himself as he enters a darkened room. He takes a few steps forward to the control panel. It was just the normal take down the few guards protecting the entrance of the area. Simple enough, as always boring, what I need is a challenge. He turns grabbing the kid behind him who looked around seven or eight. "There's no way you're getting any closer to that panel!" the little boy says his eyes glowing bright green eyes.  
  
"You do know you're the one captured right." The sound of scurry feet and squeaks around him then many sets of glowing red eyes appear. "You guys have a bad rat problem."  
  
"I know." The boy says happily as his rat tail shoots toward Niko's neck like a needle. He drops the boy avoiding the attack. Niko's eyes adjust to the dark of the room. "You're not getting away that easily."  
  
"AH!" Niko's head jerks back. He reaches back and grabs hold of his ponytail turning. A little girl with rat ears and tail had a hold of his braid in her mouth. He falls to his knees when he felt his foot pulled out from under him by a rat tail. His arms are rendered useless by numerous tails that holding him in place. He struggles soon turning into a two way tug of war. There's no way I'm going to be captured by a bunch of rats.  
  
A kid around Niko's age walks up to from behind. His long rat tail drapes on the floor like a long strand of thick spaghetti. "Bowing to your king so soon," he laughs at his own so called joke. "You humans are so stupid. You actually thought you could in this place without being caught. You should have stayed and enjoy the history of the Last War like every other oblivious human here."  
  
"Ha, King" Niko looks up at the guy and says smugly. "More like Rat King." Furry rises in his green eyes. In a blur his long tail whacks Niko in the back of the head and everything goes black.  
  
*****  
  
The door to what looked like a large conference room opens slowly. A tall young man with familiar deep green eyes and lifeless face looks around. A woman in a lab coat stands with her back turned to him beside a cart full of tubs of wide-ranging colored liquids. She turns looking carefully at a tub of purple liquid. "I'm afraid you might have the wrong room. The register room is upstairs."  
  
"Sorry I got lost. Can you point me in the right direction?"  
  
"Sure, the register desk was to the left to where you came in, but you would have known that if you wouldn't have snuck in. Trying to show off your skills to us." she digs in her lab coat pocket and pulls out a pair of glasses. She looks at Trowa for the first time then picks up a second test tub and compares it to the other one.  
  
"Thank you." He takes a hard look at her a moment as she walks over to a small cocktail table beside the door.  
  
"If you make it through screening you'll see me again. You'd be a great lion splicer." When she approaches the door she says calmly, "Your friends are being caught as we talk, you know."  
  
*****  
  
"So, you're here too, huh. I don't like to gloat." Duo says smugly, "Anyway you're just in luck. I have something interesting to show you guys."  
  
"What did you find?" Quatre asks interested.  
  
"It's hard to explain really. You have to see it to believe it." Duo reopens the door. "Follow me." The door leads to a long hallway of stairs. Heero continues forward, but something about Duo seemed strange.  
  
*****  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Come to think of it I could use you." She dashes to the door before him and then closes the door and leans on it. "You can test out a new serum that I invented. Like I said you'd be a wonderful lion splicer." She walks up to him as though examining him. She wraps her arms around his neck then whispers, "Tell me all you know about Fox and Sophia Dragon and I'm make the process painless because you'll have to get through me to get out."  
  
Her eyes change from human to lizard. Trowa pushes her away in time to save his nose from being snapped off. He backs up as she changes in front of him. An unusual high pitched screech escapes from the jaws of a T-Rex reaching its normal adolescence height. As the T-Rex charged he jumps out of its way. It chases him around the room. Its thick tail knocks over the cart of tubs shattering many. He lands on the couch waiting a moment. As she came closer he jumps off it at last second and she trips on it landing on her side.  
  
He sees something in the corner of his eye as he starts on his way down. Then like a blur it comes out of nowhere and slams into him. Instead of landing like he was suppose to he goes crashing into the wall behind him like a homerun baseball. He slides down the wall and for the moment not moving. While struggling to get up someone lands in front of him.  
  
"I'm surprised you're still conscious after that blow I dealt you." The girl move locks of hair out of Trowa's face and a smile crosses her face as the stomping of Rex Feet behind her. He could see her arm connected bat wings. Her dot black eyes look up at the Rex looming over her. "I think this guy would be the perfect Ginny pig."  
  
*****  
  
"They've changed this part of the base considerably." Duo stops at one of the cell doors. He takes what looks like a card from his pocket. "I've found why they don't have cameras in this place and I think it might interest you, Mr. Winner." The door opens and he starts to go in, but the others don't causing him to stop. He turns looking at them. "What's the matter you guys."  
  
"Duo. what's my name?" Duo looks at Quatre stunned at his sudden interest about his name.  
  
"Quatre" Heero glances at Quatre trying to figure out what he was doing.  
  
"And his?" there's a pause.  
  
"Heero, why"  
  
"What's the name of our leader?"  
  
"Hey, what is this you guys?" Duo says looking at both at them confused. "You don't trust me."  
  
"Answer the question?" Heero says harshly. A look of annoyance also crossed his face a moment.  
  
"Can we just go in please?" he says avoiding the question. Heero answers his question with a punch in the nose. Duo doubles back holding his nose. His bangs cover his eyes. "You're going to pay for that." His eyes open to the glow of yellow. He wipes the blood from his nose as Heero and Quatre take out guns.  
  
"Show your true colors." The Duo imposture begins to change. His hair grows longer soon pilling up on the floor, but grew a bit shorter. However he stayed the Duo look alike.  
  
"Sorry, I don't show people who I am and I'm not starting now." A smile crosses his face then a sudden whoosh sound. The guns are knocked from there hands. "Try and shot me now." He runs at them then grabbing them both by the neck slams them into the wall. "Now who should I be this time?" He looks from Heero to Quatre but his eyes rest on Heero. They both try and remove the strong grip from their necks but it was no use.  
  
Suddenly Heero's eyes grow large and he grits his teeth. "Heero. what are you doing to him?" Quatre could see the pain in his eyes. Soon his hands drop to his sides. "Heero!"  
  
*****  
  
Her partner gives her a hungry look from a famished lizard. Jumping out of way of the chopping jaws that came crashing down to devour her, she looks at the giant lizard in horror. "Achan . What's gotten into you? Control yourself!"  
  
A deaf deifying screech shakes the room. Achan continues forward. The girl starts to fly away but is swatted to the ground by the Achan's tail. Trowa turns his head away to escape the view of the girl being eaten alive. Her final screams were enough. He looks for an escape route but the tail was blocking the door and the only other door was clear across the other side of the room.  
  
She's slow in turning. She'll have to make a full circle to get me because of the wall. He gets up deciding that the door where the tail was safer. Taking a screw driver out of his pocket he works his way to the door. Sitting on the tail didn't seem to disrupt it. He takes the hinges off the door starting with the one closest to the floor. He pushes the door out. He only takes one step out before he's forced to jump back in by another set of jaws. They are much larger then the first. It pushes its nose through the door blocking his way out.  
  
He could feel the heat of its breath. As anticipated, she turns around slowly only after backing up nearly crushing him. She snaps at him again giving him the only option of backing up which to his misfortune happens to be a corner. Trowa backs up as far as he could go. She comes in for the kill. He waits for it. The jaws snap shut centimeters from his face. A whine erupts from it. He turns his head away in disgust as she licks him.  
  
He dare not move though curious why he wasn't at the moment lizard food. Either frustrated or out of still being hungry she turns around attacking what hindered her from her meal. A white tiger had a hold of her tail. It looks to be about four times the size of a natural tiger. The T-Rex flings its tail back and forth pulling the tiger out of its hold in the floor like nails being pulled from a block of wood. The tiger finally gets pulled out of place and like a crack of a whip the T-Rex flings the tiger into a wall.  
  
The tiger quickly gets up and scurries in front of Trowa. The large lizard snags one of the tiger's legs. A thunderous roar explodes from the tiger. With its other paw like lightning uses the lizard's face as a scratching post. She releases the tiger as she cries out in pain. Almost immediately the tiger starts to shrink. It starts to take the shape of a woman. As the face and body were human again she still kept the fur and ears. She grabs her injured shoulder in pain.  
  
"Here's your chance go!" Shimi says calling to Trowa. "I can take care of- " the tail of the T-Rex swats her into the wall as it still screeches from the pain. She sinks to floor passing out. Trowa races over to her and carefully picks her up. Not having anything to lose he heads for the door on the other side of the room. Keeping one eye on the other door and the other on the T-Rex he makes half way to the door a safe enough distance without being seen. Making it to the other side, he kicks open the other door.  
  
Inside are what look like giant test tubs big enough to hold a beach ball. In the center of many looked like little aliens of different sizes. He walks deeper inside, but he didn't see another. Trowa looks to his left seeing a small baby boy inside one of tubs and walks closer to it. He stares at it in awe and places his hand on it. It's warm to the touch.  
  
"You know all test tub babies are made the same way." Trowa turns in the direction of the slightly deep voice. The man's amber eyes shine a bit with the allowed dim light of the room. His brown skin fades into the orange of his tiger ears that stick out of his bright red hair. "He's due to be born in two weeks." Trowa watches him carefully as he walks to the tub holding the baby. "My name is Moriko Yoshi. I'm a scientist here at Base Nursery."  
  
". This whole base is a nursery?" Trowa says astonished.  
  
"Yes, everyone here is under the age of 21 except for me, my wife, and a few other adults here." A roar of pain is admitted by Shimi as she regains conciseness.  
  
"Trowa what are you doing can't you see I'm giving away your position by my sent. I'm sorry. I should have considered that before coming along." Shimi says avoiding his gaze.  
  
"It doesn't matter. I figured you were a splicer." Shimi looks up at him surprised blushing then looks at her injured shoulder.  
  
"It will heal when the shoulder's put back in its socket. Give it a week, two at the most." Moriko says glancing at it from where he's standing.  
  
"So, you're going to snitch on us?" she says looking at him.  
  
"Sorry cuz, I have too. if I know you you'll get out besides there's no way out of this room except the way you came." Cousin? Trowa looks from Shimi to Moriko a bit confused. Is he a spy? If he is then why did Shimi only tell us that it was only her and Fox left?  
  
"Believe it or not, not everyone in Osprey is evil, just a select few that give it its bad rep. I wish you luck because we can't find out who they are and if they did they disappeared or joined."  
  
"Wow . I, I didn't know that." She looks up at her cousin with sympathy then turns serious. "Who sponsors or is the leader of Osprey?"  
  
"There's Cobra one of the elders of the Tang Dynasty, but the Dragon Clan or The Lan foundation from what I remember is the head. The chairman is Li Lan." Bingo he's the one we're looking for, Shimi thinks to herself finally noticing the baby in the Tub. "Say hello to Chibi Katsuro Yoshi." He turns to her and smiles. "I'm hoping he'll learn weaseling from my favorite cousin, so don't go and die on me."  
  
*****  
  
"What are you doing to him? Heero! ... " Heero's eyes close, his arms sway steadily and lifelessly at his sides to a gradual stop. Quatre struggles with the hand that held his throat. "Let him go and take me instead." The Duo imposture is shocked by Quatre's hasty request and finds it funny.  
  
"I'm not finished yet. besides you'll get your turn soon enough." Without warning Heero jabs a dagger in the guys arm. "AAHHH!" Duo imposture releases them. He surveys his arm pain stricken then anger stains his face. Debating weather or not to pull the dagger out, he looks up at Quatre and Heero. Heero doesn't stay on his feet for long. Quatre catches him on the way down.  
  
"Heero." he moans in response to his name then loses consciousness. Quatre sees that he had turned very pale and turns him over on his back resting Heero on him. Heero's neck is red where he was held almost like he was sunburned.  
  
"I bet you miss your leader don't you?" Duo imposture walks up to Quatre kneeling down next to him. "Let me fix that for you." He steadily changes, warping completely, into Heero. "How's that" he says with Heero's voice to a stunned Quatre. "Now it's your turn." Before Quatre could move he grabs him by his neck again jamming him into the wall. A smile crosses Evil Heero's face as Quatre feels his hand start to grow hot. "AAHHH!!"  
  
*****  
  
Duo looks at his watch and sighs. It was getting late. Many tour groups including his have finished. He walks over to the gift shop. Pretending to look around but even then the gift shop starts to thin out. Duo casually walks into one of the dressing rooms as they start to close. He waits hearing the conversation of two cashiers as they lock the doors. Lights turn off all around the place.  
  
He steps out of the dressing room area and looks around. There's no camera's here. Huh, I have a bad feeling about this. Something white dashes past in front of him. OK what was that? He starts to go in the direction in which he saw it go, behind the counter. He looks over the other side of the counter to see a kid dressed as a rabbit enter the staff room.  
  
Questioning, he enters the staff room and the fridge door's open. Looking down over the top of the door he sees the little girl taking two heads of lettuce out of one of the doors in the fridge. They seem too much for her to handle as they obstruct her view. Closing the door with her foot causes her to lose her balance. Duo picks her up before she falls. "Need a little help there kid?"  
  
Her feet spring out in a running motion dropping the lettuce. They make eye contact for the first time. Startled Duo drops her. She rolls a bit before scurrying under the table. No way. that . really was a rabbit. Shimi told us about splicers, but I didn't think I'd actually come in contact with one. I mean with my luck I'd have met up with a bear or something.  
  
He looks under the table after moving closer. She leaps on his head and beats his head with her foot a few times with her foot like a drum then leaps off. "Hey" he watches her in astonishment as she does a u-turn sliding to a stop to pick up the lettuce she dropped and head down what looked likes a laundry shoot on the wall. OK. He opens the laundry shoot and studies it. Ah what the heck, it's big enough.  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
"Damn it, Duo! Don't follow the white rabbit!!"  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
"AH!" Niko's head jerks back. He reaches back and grabs hold of his ponytail turning. A little girl with rat ears and tail had a hold of his braid in her mouth. He falls to his knees when he felt his foot pulled out from under him by a rat tail. His arms are rendered useless by numerous tails that holding him in place. He struggles soon turning into a two way tug of war. There's no way I'm going to be captured by a bunch of rats.  
  
A kid around Niko's age walks up to from behind. His long rat tail drapes on the floor like a long strand of thick spaghetti. "Bowing to your king so soon," he laughs at his own so called joke. "You humans are so stupid. You actually thought you could in this place without being caught. You should have stayed and enjoy the history of the Last War like every other oblivious human here."  
  
"Ha, King" Niko looks up at the guy and says smugly. "More like Rat King." Furry rises in his green eyes. In a blur his long tail whacks Niko in the back of the head and everything goes black.  
  
ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz  
  
"No!, not Niko!!"  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
The tiger quickly gets up and scurries in front of Trowa. The large lizard snags one of the tiger's legs. A thunderous roar explodes from the tiger. With its other paw like lightning uses the lizard's face as a scratching post. She releases the tiger as she cries out in pain. Almost immediately the tiger starts to shrink. It starts to take the shape of a woman. As the face and body were human again she still kept the fur and ears. She grabs her injured shoulder in pain.  
  
"Here's your chance go!" Shimi says calling to Trowa. "I can take care of- " the tail of the T-Rex swats her into the wall as it still screeches from the pain. She sinks to floor passing out.  
  
ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz  
  
"No Shimi!!"  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
He runs at them then grabbing them both by the neck slams them into the wall. "Now who should I be this time?" He looks from Heero to Quatre but his eyes rest on Heero. They both try and remove the strong grip from their necks but it was no use.  
  
Suddenly Heero's eyes grow large and he grits his teeth. "Heero. what are you doing to him?" Quatre could see the pain in his eyes. Soon his hands drop to his sides. "Heero!"  
  
ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz  
  
"Heero. I'm sorry!! This is all. all my fault."  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
Wufei stops at one of the doors and opens it slowly. He looks around inside before going to another door listening in on a conversation. Two eyes shine yellow behind him.  
  
ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz  
  
"No, Wufei don't go in there! You're the only one left! Wufei!"  
  
zzz, zzz, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ  
  
"Heero." he moans in response to his name then loses consciousness. Quatre sees that he had turned very pale and turns him over on his back resting Heero on him. Heero's neck is red where he was held almost like he was sunburned.  
  
"I bet you miss your leader don't you?" Duo imposture walks up to Quatre kneeling down next to him. "Let me fix that for you." He steadily changes, warping completely, into Heero. "How's that" he says with Heero's voice to a stunned Quatre. "Now it's your turn." Before Quatre could move he grabs him by his neck again jamming him into the wall. A smile crosses Evil Heero's face as Quatre feels his hand start to grow hot. "AAHHH!!"  
  
ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz  
  
"Quatre!" Quatre's picture seems to float upward like a balloon, but she soon realizes it's her that's sinking away. She opens her eyes slowly as she hits the bottom of the pool. Realizing where she is she swims as fast as she can to get to the surface.  
  
"I told you it wasn't a good idea to sleep on the pool" Says a familiar mop top.  
  
"I don't need you telling me what to do professor!" she yells upset as she steps out of the pool. The weight of gravity on her body is felt like her plague of guilt infecting her slowly. She looks up at the starry sky, the moon almost directly overhead. "How long would it take a gundam to go from here to the moon?" Her voice is soft in wonder.  
  
He looks up at the moon catching on, "Less then 24 hours if you go all out." He watches her as she debates weather to go or not. "I'll tell the others goodbye for you," he turns and walks into the house.  
  
"Wait, I'm not leaving yet." She runs after him. ". wait a minute, since when did I say I was leaven!!" 


	15. The Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing but I wish I did. boy do I wish I did. I only own Sophia, Fox, Shimi, but Niko and Daga belong to. well Niko. Please R&R.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 15 *The Escape* 1:50am  
  
A light turns on lighting up a small area of a control counsel. Several screens turn on. A familiar Fox sits down in a black roller chair. Pressing a few buttons on the counsel, he then relays a message.  
  
"So you're staying after all" Fox turns. A tall bold Chinese man stares down at him.  
  
"Oh, I'm going to leave. just not now. I'm sending ShadowScythe ahead. He should be a perfect distraction for them to get out, but it he doesn't do the job. I'll be forced to step in."  
  
*****  
  
Two men stare outside the cell door looking inside from one-way glass at there prisoners. "I'll have to congratulate you on your capture and a quick one in fact. I think teaming up with you was the best, Mr. Lan," says a man in a business suit. Mr. Lan smiles at the compliment. His yellow eyes flicker a bit in the light with a hint suspicion as the man watches the teenagers that were peaking inside.  
  
"There're harmless; I was just as curious when I was there age." he turns away from the peaking teens and turns back to the call of prisoners. "I care very much for each and every one of them like they were my own. I'll be very upset if anything should happen to them." Mr. Lan voice turns a tad cruel, "I sure you'll be able to control yourself Mr. Lowe. when it comes to the young ladies I mean."  
  
"I'm shocked to hear you'd think that of me." He pronounces displeased.  
  
"Anyway we are going to see if we can use them. We can talk in my office where there are. no distractions." Mr. Lan turns away from the call and opens the door for Mr. Lowe and they exit the room.  
  
******  
  
A familiar face walks into the cell. The woman glances confused at the prisoners as though unsure before walking to Trowa. Trowa immediately recognized her from the girl who tried to eat him from before. Biting her lower lip she digs in her lab coat pocket then produces a needle and a purple vile. "I'm going to make this as painless as possible."  
  
"You're not the bitch from before who tried to eat us?" the sudden outburst makes her drop the glass vile on the floor.  
  
"Damn it!" she looks over at the person who made the comment then kneels down and starts to pick up the peaces of glass on the floor. ".Oh, you're a splicer." Her voice is soft and a bit sheepish. "If I would have known I. I wouldn't have come."  
  
"You should have known when you walked in." Shimi replies a bit impatiently.  
  
"Yes. I, I know but I have a head cold so my nose is pretty much shot." She turns to Trowa. "I think my sister's set on eating you and maybe even your friends, but I was hopping I could get you guys to gang up on her if I enhanced you besides it would counter act the new serum my sister made that she's thinking about injecting you people with."  
  
Suddenly the cell door opens and slams shut. "What are you doing?" Achan walks to her twin angrily partly changed. Her eyes no longer human and her skin is a shade of brownish green. Her twin hides the test tube back in her pocket.  
  
"Nothing except making sure you don't eat anyone else!" Achan slaps her sister and knocks her down with her tail then into the wall. Her long thick tail sways steadily back and forth.  
  
"Now get out of here! Your sympathy for these humans sickens me!" A satisfied smile forms on her face as she watches her twin get angry. "Go on little Robin run to father like you always do." She turns from her sister as she heads for the door. "Baby" Achan starts to laugh which was soon ended by a screech and a tail slap in the face.  
  
Practically, everyone looks in disbelief at the Filose Raptor with a lab coat on as it attacks Achan. Robin backs Achan into Duo. She ducks out of the way as her jaws nearly clamp shut on Achan's head ending inches from his face. Robin and Duo's eyes meet for a moment and his heart races. She turns away from him going back to her sister. Now I know how the people in Jurassic Park felt.  
  
Although Robin had the advantage Achan only changed a little more. Her tail practically its full size turned out to be all she needed. She swats her sister away then whips Robin with her tail repeatedly. "Hey! That's enough!!" Achan gives one last hit into the wall by Niko. Robin changes back to her human form bloody, bruised, and unconscious. Niko quickly checks her.  
  
"Now where was I?" Achan says changing back somewhat and reaching into her pocket and pulls out six needles from her coat pocket. "Mr. Winner, would you take the liberty of going first?"  
  
"What exactly are you doing this for?" Quatre asks when she had finished with him and had mover on to Duo and Wufei.  
  
"Let's just say I need to check to see if I can make spicers out of normal humans." She moves to Heero. "If it works we can use you."  
  
"And if it doesn't?" Duo asks looking at her.  
  
"I'll just kill you." She stops at Trowa injecting him slowly. "And you're going to be my lion. you're the first to ever escape me. OW!" She looks down at the broken glass on the floor. After removing the piece lodged in her foot, she swipes the rest of the glass away with her tail. After thinking for a moment she utters, "They won't miss just one."  
  
She grabs Trowa's jaw and squeezes digging in her nails till she drew blood. A growl escapes from Shimi's as she lunges forward the chains cling holding her back. "Leave him alone!" Her eyes begin to glow yellow. The sound of bending metal is drowned out by her tiger roars as continued forward.  
  
Achan looks at Shimi. "Looks like I have to eat him quick so I can start on you." She licks the blood off his face. She starts to change as the chains on her wrists break. Shimi jumps Achan as a full tiger ripping her away from Trowa toward her. There's high pitch screeches mixed with the roars of a tiger. Shimi has the momentary advantage with Achan being on her back. She turns over knocking Shimi to the side with her tail. Unable to change all the way because of the size of the room she was the same size as Shimi. Shimi moves out of the way as Achan's jaws which clamp shut on the chains that held Shimi's legs. She rips them from the wall and starts to game of tug of war.  
  
Achan drags Shimi around from behind. She lets go and lodges at Shimi's head but Shimi turns faster and catches her by the neck making her double back. Getting out of Shimi's grip she changes back. A surprised look crosses her face. "What. what happened? Why did I change back?" Shimi brings her back from her shock as she pounces on her.  
  
"AAHH-" The tiger moves away from its kill and casually makes its way over to Trowa. Going on her hind legs she changes most of the way back leaving her fur, tail, and ears. She starts to break the chains holding him in place. "We're getting the hell out of here." A growl is mixed in with her voice emphasizing her continued anger.  
  
******  
  
Light slowly descends on the Winner mansion as Rashid starts to clean up for the night. He wants to get a head start for next morning hoping to finally catch up on construction since they're still behind schedule even though Quatre's little vacation bought them a few days time. After getting dressed he heads out of his room again. Something's not right. I don't know what, but I have a bad feeling.  
  
He heads downstairs and enters the ball room the place where they usually had there meetings. He stands sunned and horrified at his massacred men sprawled out on the floor like rag dolls. In the mist of it is a crying Quatre.  
  
"Master Quatre, are you ok?" Rashid asks worried as he quickly goes to his side. Quatre looks up at Rashid seeing him for the first time.  
  
"Rashid. who would do such a horrible thing?"  
  
"It's ok Quatre. We'll find out who did this."  
  
Fox gasps and sits up in bed still remembering the bloodied bodies of the Maganac soldiers breathing heavily. "Damn it!" he drops back down on the bed covering his face with his hand.  
  
"Is something wrong Fox?" He moves his hand away to see the five scientists staring down at him. "Will you guys not do that. it's creepy." He sits up again. "Quatre's in danger again, but this time everyone's involved." Fox gets up and goes to his dresser, but stops looking around.  
  
"Fox here," Instructor H hands his a suit case, "It's easier if you use a suit case instead of a book bag."  
  
"Um. thanks, but I'm not staying that long guys," he says noticing the blue dragon design on the front of the suitcase.  
  
"Fox, we've been talking and we seem to think that there's more to just going to Quatre's aid that's happening over there." Master O says as Fox starts to pack. Fox stops and looks at O a moment.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I've notice that your visions lately mostly involve Quatre?"  
  
"What are you implying O? .that I love Quatre Winner." Fox says laughing.  
  
"Yes" Fox stops laughing and looks at O and the others like their crazy. "Or someone there living at the Winner mansion." He looks at them annoyed.  
  
".That's it! I'm cutting off all channels with soap operas." He starts packing again this time angry stuffing them in the suitcase. EERrrah!! I can't believe them!  
  
******  
  
Shimi and the others make it to a large area that held a number of mobil suits. "Huh, well what do you know they kept suits after all?" Shimi looks around at the suits. It was set up so that each platform led to two suits as well as connected to each other with one long walkway. There were a few empty slots. "Ok fellas pick a suit so we can get out of here then we're going to have a word with Fox. I think I know where he is." She heads slowly for the nearest suit as the others do the same.  
  
"I have room in my gundam in case you guys are a little rusty." Niko says smugly. "I brought mine with me. It's not too far from here."  
  
"No thanks Niko; I think my piloting skills are still just as sharp." Duo looks over at Niko as look of uncertainty crosses his face. "Are you really. going to take raptor girl with you?"  
  
"Of course why wouldn't I. I'm sure we can get some useful information out of her. See you later ok" Niko turns walking to his gundam with unconscious Robin draped over her shoulder.  
  
I guess we can trust her since she did try and save us. Duo takes one last look at his friend and heads to the nearest Trurus suit. I just hope I'm wrong about Robin. The sound of pounding knocks him out of his thoughts. What's that? Each pound was louder then the other. Pretty sure he didn't want to find out he opens the cockpit and gets the surprise of his life.  
  
"AAHHH!" everyone looks up in time to see Duo jump back in time and save his head from being bitten off. He falls back in surprise by the force of its scream. He quickly closes the cockpit still in shock. He gives a sigh of relief and falls on his back. His comrades come to his side.  
  
"Are you ok, Duo?" Quatre asks with a look of concern on his face. Wufei helps Duo to his feet.  
  
"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to look into the jaws of a giant lizard. something tells me we should be careful when picking our suits."  
  
"Come on you guys what's the hold up?" Shimi calls walking up to them in a Space Leo suit. "Duo you ok?" Just then the pounding jarred Duo's memory of something massive was coming their way. The others heard it as well. Shimi takes a step out of her cock pit as an adult T-Rex emerges from the corner. It steadily speeds up to meet them.  
  
"I think it's safe to say. Run for it!!!!!" Duo yells as they all start to run. They all peal off one by one until its just Duo and Quatre. "Quatre go on."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"It's ok I'll be fine." Quatre breaks of leaving Duo alone to run in the ahead. It didn't take long for the large lizard to catch up to Duo and he was running out of room to run. He does a sharp turn to escape its jaws planting him at a dead end. The powerful jaws come down, but he moves out of the way in time. He loses his balance however and manages to sit up. He backs up as far as the wall would let him.  
  
"All man" he closes his eyes and waits for his end to come as the set of teeth comes closer. Out of my entire experience of being a gundam pilot I would never have imagined this is how I would die.  
  
******  
  
Quatre watches Duo disappear around the corner in horror. "Duo!" he starts to go after him followed by Wufei when Quatre jumps in front of them.  
  
"And where do you think you're going." Quatre looks at his evil counter part in surprise.  
  
"Please move out of out way. Our friend's in danger." Quatre says pleading.  
  
"Well, it's your fault for coming here in the first place," Evil Quatre exclaims hotly. Wufei steps in front of Quatre punching Evil Quatre in the face. "Eeer, you're going to pay for that!" Evil Quatre lunges at Wufei.  
  
"Quatre there's no way we can help Duo now unless we use the suit and go find him." Wufei said holding Evil Quatre down. Understanding Quatre heads for the suit. Something grabs hold of Quatre's ankle tripping him. He gets dragged away from the suit. He looks back at his foot. The evil Quatre had somehow expanded his hair long enough to grab hold of his foot. Reaching down he desperately tries to pull it off.  
  
"Nobodies going anywhere!" Evil Quatre says grabbing hold of Wufei's neck after getting a hand free.  
  
******  
  
"Sorry fellas but you can't proceed any further." A girl jumps down from one of the suits landing in Trowa and Heero's way. She had on a space suit with a baseball cap on. Her silver eyes shine in the light of the room. "I see you met my brother already," she says looking at Heero's neck. The burn on his neck had just started to clear up.  
  
Heero glares at her remembering what her brother had done to him two days earlier. She charges at them like a bull. Trowa does a flip in the air to get away as she tackles Heero to the ground. It ends up with her pined to the floor. She looks Heero in the face bewildered then with a burst of energy, she flips over. She smiles now on top.  
  
"Wait. you're not evil," she said letting him sit up. "Why did you come here?"  
  
"Base infiltration to see what we're up against." Trowa walks up as she gets up and helps Heero to his feet.  
  
"Really, well you picked a horrible time to escape. We are doing simulation training in Trurus and Leo suits, so it's not a good idea to pick a suit, so it's not a good idea to pick a suit at the moment.  
  
"Rachael! What are you doing?" She looks over at her disgusted brother. He flings Quatre into Wufei sending them flying into the railing then retracts his hair.  
  
"I'm not doing anything, but recognizing that what you're doing is wrong. Theses people aren't the enemy and you'd see that if you'd follow your instincts instead of following Osprey." An annoyed look crosses evil Quatre's face. "This isn't the time for this." They continue to argue until the T-Rex comes back around. The new X scare on its face is unmistakable as it roars that mixes in with a sudden explosion that rocks the base. The explosion ripped a hole in the hanger. The suction of space starts to pull things out.  
  
In the confusion, everyone gets knocked to the floor. Trowa nearly gets crushed by its foot. Trowa makes a dash forward escaping the T-Rex, but the lizard wasn't interested in Trowa. He was had his eyes set on Heero who had fallen right next to his mouth.  
  
"Look out!" Rachael pushes Heero out of the way. The jaws close shut on her. Evil Quatre goes frantic seeing his sister there one minute and gone the next.  
  
"No. NNOOO!!" he runs angrily at the T-Rex. "Rachael!!!" The giant lizard swats him away. He goes flying and makes a grove in the floor. He struggles to get up obviously in pain. No. Rachael.  
  
The T-Rex comes closer as another explosion enlarges the hole making the suction more powerful. Evil Quatre sits up with a distraught look on his face. He closes his eyes letting the tears fall. He then opens his eyes that glow yellow. His hair grows long like a whip and snags the railing then starts to break it then swipes through the walkway like a hot knife through butter.  
  
He watches as the walkway jerk toward the suction. The lizard goes flying out into cold space. Shimi moves the suit in the way of the hole and then opens the cockpit and jumps out on the walkway. Evil Quatre stands up and looks angrily at Heero. "YOU!" Like a blare he grabs Heero by the caller. His eyes glow furiously yellow. "She saved you.! Damn it!" The anger disappears from Evil Quatre's face. "She saved." tears stream down his face. "Why." he slides to his knees crying still clinging to Heero's shirt.  
  
Shimi walks up to the Evil Quatre then knees down next to him as another explosion rocks the base. Something wrong, there shouldn't be that many explosions unless there a real fighting going on outside. We have to get out of here now. Jeffrey lets go of Heero.  
  
"If you we are to escape the time is now" Heero says to the group. The pilots race to nearby suits except Shimi who was still with Jeffrey. Jeffrey looks to the floor still crying not saying a word. "Jeffrey, come on; I won't leave you by yourself." He finally looks up at Shimi. She smiles sadly at him then helps him to his feet. "Come on." 


	16. Death Returns

Disclaimer: Hi, I own nothing except the new characters that you've never heard before except Niko and Daga. They belong to my friend Niko Nightwind. Please R&R. I haven't really gotten many.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 16 *Death Returns the Group* 4:00am  
  
Fallen Angle is already destroying mobil dolls as the pilots exit the moon base. Quatre takes a look back realizing there are only six suits on their side including him. "Wait. what about Duo. Do you think he's ok. that he made it out?" Quatre says worried. There's a long pause from the other pilots.  
  
"Duo's resourceful. I pretty sure he made it out ok, Quatre." Trowa says coming up on screen.  
  
"The only thing we can do now is get out of here." Heero promptly starts firing on mobil Dolls as they start emerging from where they exited.  
  
"I'm not sure about you guys but I'm not going to let Niko have all the fun." Wufei charges forward, Trowa following. Quatre hesitates, taking one last look at the base. I hope you're right Trowa.  
  
"Come on Quatre. Lets get out of here, ok" Shimi says understandingly. Quatre sighs and heads into battle.  
  
******  
  
"It seems your prisoners have escaped Mr. Lan." Mr. Lowe say slightly irritated. He watches the fighting mobil suits destroy the mobil suits with ease on the screen in front of them. "I'm hoping this. is part of your plan."  
  
"Yes. though they escaped sooner then expected." They're more resourceful then I thought. Mr. Lan opens the top drawer of his desk and pulls out a disk. After loading it in the computer he smiles. "Let's see how they do against mobil dolls that have data on all five original pilots." This ought to be amusing.  
  
"As long as one of the original five escape, your plan will still work right."  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Didn't you have more information on the pilots then that?"  
  
"Don't remind me" Mr. Lan scowls remembering.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
A black fox shows up on his computer screen. Its red eyes shine bright in the screen. "What the." The fox looks at him a moment before casually going to the back where his folders are and starts picking them up. The fox starts to walk away with the folders carefully tucked under his arm. "Hey! You put those back!" the fox stops and looks as though he heard him.  
  
He sighs and drops the folders. Shrugging he takes out a welder's mask and puts it on then pulls out a blow torch. He lets it lose on the folders. "What, why you little!" the fox puts away his stuff and snickers at him then takes out a paintbrush with rainbow paint. He writes "Mischievous was here!!!!!" in the background. The fox runs up to the screen taking out a mallet. At the last second the computer turns off and starts to smoke. "This had better be someone's idea of a sick joke!" Li says though clinched teeth.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"You can thank Fox for our not knowing who the pilots are."  
  
******  
  
"AAAHHHH!!!" Shimi gets thrown back, her beam cannon get blasted out of her hands.  
  
"Shimi are you ok?" Quatre asks catching her from behind.  
  
"I guess so. What did they do change the level of difficulty or something?" Both fire there beam cannons but the dolls dodge easily and seem to maneuver around them.  
  
Quatre watches them closely a moment. She's right. Quatre grabs Shimi's free hand and jets upward as all firing at once. They all blow up in a giant fireball. That was too close. If we were any closer we would have been caught in the explosion. There suits jump in front of them and fire on them. Both blast away from each other only to find themselves surrounded by three more so if they dodged one, they got hit by another.  
  
******  
  
They must have added new data into them. Heero jerks back evading a blast from the side. He boosts upward and blasts the three suits below him. Aiming at another suit he fires. It dodges easily and they exchange fire. This fighting style. its Trowa. A suit from behind blasts his gun out of his hand then the other suits beam cannon. Another mobil suit behind that one blows it up. They can't distinguish between enemies suits. He dodges another blast. As he moves up, he bumps into another suit. Trowa comes up on screen. Trowa  
  
"Notice something strange about these suits."  
  
"Yeah, we can use this to our advantage." Heero pulls back. "Behind you" Trowa lifts his beam cannon, but the suit blows up before he gets a chance to fire.  
  
"You two should really watch your back more." Niko says popping up on screen with Wufei.  
  
"There's a clear way out of here if we keep going forward," Wufei doubles back avoiding a heavy fire. "I'm going to go help Quatre and Shimi. Shimi's not the best pilot in the world."  
  
******  
  
"Shimi do you even know how to pilot a suit?" Quatre asks leading the way through numerous suits dodging fire while still holding her hand.  
  
"I do. it's just. I'm not used to this kind of model. Sorry about this Quatre."  
  
"It's ok" he suddenly stops and Shimi bumps into him. This isn't good.  
  
"What's the matter Quatre?"  
  
"We're surrounded on all sides." He looks around. If blast one, we'll get caught in a domino effect of explosions. The only way is to barrel through. "Shimi, I want to barricade through that one on the left."  
  
"Sure I can do that. Hold on Quatre, I'm leading the way out."  
  
"Shimi, I think it'd be best if you let go first!!!" Not hearing him she slams into the suit and with her free hand rips the beam cannon from its hand before booting straight up and over.  
  
"Did you say something Quatre?"  
  
"Yes, but there's no need for it now." He says rubbing the bump on the back of his head. "Just keep going forward." She gets a ways ahead before stopping. Her face suddenly turns to worry as she looks to her side. "What's the matter?"  
  
"I must have hit the suit too hard. I made Jeff's condition worse. Jeff, can you sit up?"  
  
"I sprained my wrist that's all." His voice is small, but chocked with pain.  
  
"Just keep going, but try not to do any sudden stops." What we need is a pathway out of here. Just then, a series of exploding suits make a pathway for them to escape.  
  
"You two ok?" Wufei asks then looks at Shimi angrily. "If you don't know how to pilot you shouldn't have taken one!" Shimi scowls at him not saying a word.  
  
"Thanks, Wufei"  
  
"I don't deserve the thanks, Quatre."  
  
"You didn't do this? Then who?" a Gundam stops in front of them. That gundam. I've seen it before.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Wait" Sophia turns giving one last look at him before running off when he started to follow. He starts to catch up when she just disappears. He stops a moment looking in disbelief then continues. He hits something that sounded like metal. "What's this?"  
  
Just then, he hears a familiar sound. A sound he hadn't heard since the Mariemaia incident, the sound of a mobil suit coming to life. Then, all at once he saw it like someone turning on a light in a dark garage. He stood at the thigh of the gundam. The suit was entirely black only because of the cloak it wore. At the same time the cloak seemed to be part of it like skin or hair would be to a person.  
  
He climbs it when he sees the cockpit's still open. The gundam had sat up and sand continues to fall from it like multiple streams. He makes it to the cockpit as it starts to close. He's surprised to see nothing inside except a ring over head and the platform Sophia's standing on. It felt like walking into a small room.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Don't tell me you forgot about me already, Quatre." Duo pops up on screen dressed skin tight body suit that Quatre recognized immediate.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Quatre makes it to the cockpit as it starts to close and is surprised to see nothing inside except a ring over head and the platform Sophia's standing on. It felt like walking into a small room.  
  
Sophia sits cross-legged on the platform with her back turned to him. He notices her clothes have changed. It looked like a diver's suit, only deep purple and the neck and shoulders are exposed. On her shoulders is something that looks like blue shoulder pads with two antenna sticking out of each.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"That's the same suit Sophia wore." Duo looks at Quatre surprised.  
  
"You've seen this uniform before?"  
  
"We can talk about the suit later." Wufei says softly. "It's best if we escape. I want to see the suit for myself." If she's already made one no doubt she's working on others. I'll have to put a stop to her Gundam making. but we could use them for the battles to come. I'll have to talk to her. Quatre notices that he seemed to be lost in thought.  
  
"Are you ok, Wufei?"  
  
"I'm fine Quatre. lets go." He heads off first leading the way. Quatre and Duo exchange glances of uncertainty before following.  
  
******  
  
I can't believe I'm back here. Fox looks up at the big white mansion he'd been in before. Suit case in hand, he knocks on the front door then rings the door bell before it was opened. Two familiar faces answer the door.  
  
"Well, well, well look who finally came back and with a suit case instead of just a book bag, Isra."  
  
"Aladdin, Isra how have you guys been since the last time I saw you two?"  
  
"We've been great and you?" Isra leans a bit on the door.  
  
"Fine," Fox steps forward to enter, but they block his way. "Fellas. Can I enter the premises?" they exchange glances before closing the door in his face.  
  
"I don't know Isra, should we let him in?" Aladdin says playfully. An annoyed look crosses Fox's face.  
  
"Come on guys." he knocks again. "This isn't funny!!! Open up!" He bangs his head on the door. I can't believe I'm back here. He moans. The door opens again. "Very funny guys"  
  
"Just kidding Tikki or do we call you Fox, now?" Isra asks taking his suit case.  
  
"Call me Tikki and thanks." He walks inside.  
  
"So, Quatre's not back yet and he wouldn't tell you where he went, huh." Something tells me Rashid has a vague idea of what he might be doing. I can tell he's worried. Tikki looks at the head four around him. Instead of his usual play attitude, his attitude finally matched his serious expression. "You shouldn't worry so much Rashid. I'm promise he'll be back soon and in one piece." There's a long pause as they all look at Tikki.  
  
"You know something we don't do you, Fox?" Rashid says calmly. Some of the worry escapes his face.  
  
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't and call me, Tikki. Fox is my code name. Many people know that name, so for now it might be too dangerous to even use it." I wonder if anyone actually missed me.  
  
"Welcome back." Well what do you know they did miss me Tikki thinks to himself. A smile forms on his face as he stands. "It's been quiet without you around to stir up trouble." The smile fades returning to its lifeless calm state. "Oh and one more thing" Auda takes out a clip board out of the drawer next to him. "You have some things you need to pay from your last stay here."  
  
"Okay. sure." He walks to Rashid. Well it can't be too bad. I only broke a few things.  
  
"What needs to be paid for?"  
  
"You broke two windows, ten vases, three tables, a dozen plates." Afmahd reads over Auda's shoulder.  
  
"Hey, one of those windows weren't my fault. I told you I don't know how that baseball got in your window. Ok, I thought if I gave the kids a place to play baseball." He gives Tikki a stern look. "I wanted them to have a nice place to play. Quatre didn't disapprove; he liked seeing them out his study. Fine, Geeze, I'll pay for the window."  
  
"And all the damages to Master Quatre's bedroom. and that seems to be all." They say together.  
  
"What?"  
  
"From what I gather Tikki that fox that saved Quatre belongs to you." Rashid says in his normal serious manner, but this time he had a hint of enjoyment in his voice as well as a smile.  
  
"Nothing gets past you huh, Rashid." Tikki utters uneasily. And. everything's back to normal. "So, now that all my moneys spent and I won't be leaving for a . while. Who wants to buy me an ice cream? .anyone."  
  
******  
  
Sally and Daga wait for the suits to land in the hanger. As they exit their mobil suits. Shimi smiles at the familiar suit she knew her friend designed and made.  
  
"Wow, I can't believe she finished it. I bet Sophia sent that suit to help us." Shimi says to the others as she helps Jeff to his feet. When they get down Sally quickly comes over to help. "Sally can you do something about my brother's injuries."  
  
"Brother. but isn't that-" Sally looks at Shimi confused a moment especially when Quatre walks up to her.  
  
"Come of Jeffrey change back. We're all friends here." Ignoring his sister's wishes he warps into Heero startling Sally and Daga. "JEFFERY!" He flinches at the sound of his name and blushes before changing back to his true form. His eyes still yellow, but not glowing looked like a regular fourteen year old except for the long lizard like tail that connected to the back of his head that from a distance would be mistaken for hair wrapped in a long head cloth. "He's shy. never really been around regular people." Sally gives him a friendly smile.  
  
"Come with me and I'll see what we can do." Shimi hands her brother over to Sally. "Do you think you can walk?"  
  
"Yeah," he looks up to see his sister walk. "Shimi, you're not coming with me."  
  
"Naaaa, don't wanna hear you scream. painful on the ears you know." An evil smile forms on her face as the fear grows in his face. Sally clearly sees what Shimi's doing. "Watch out for her giant needles."  
  
"You're not going to use any needles are you?" he asks with a worried look.  
  
"There are no needles. I promise." Sally says half laughing. "Come on Jeffrey." Shimi watches them as they both leave. That ought to keep him from doing anything rash while he's here. but just in case I'll follow behind them.  
  
"Where are you going Shimi?" Quatre asks as she starts to walk away after Sally and Jeff had already disappeared around the corner.  
  
"Just making sure brother lizard doesn't do anything he won't regret." Quatre watches as she walks casually out of the hanger and into the hallway after the two. I guess she knows what's she's doing.  
  
As Shimi starts after Sally and Jeff, Wufei gives her a cold look. What does he want? Just ignore him.  
  
"Why did you finally decide to finally break us out of the 3rd day?" He says coldly. Shimi blows up in his face.  
  
"I'm sick of you and your mouth! If Sophia didn't like you I'd rip your heart out! That is if you had one!"  
  
"We all saw how easily you broke those chains, Shimi. Next time kill us yourself."  
  
"I'm only human, Wufei. Changing twice my size takes a lot out of me." They glare at each.  
  
"Wufei-" Trowa puts a hand on his shoulder stopping him. He shakes his head indicating he shouldn't interfere. "But Trowa."  
  
"Let her stand up for herself. If you help her Wufei will never respect her."  
  
"You have no right piloting a suit in the heat of battle if you're a novice." He looks away from her. "I refuse to work with an irresponsible woman."  
  
"Fine, at least you consider me a woman." Shimi says angrily storming out. There's a moment of quiet before Duo clears his throat.  
  
"This gundam is different and I don't mean just the design."  
  
"Duo, I'm curious how you found ShadowScythe."  
  
"ShadowScythe?" Everyone's attention turns to Quatre.  
  
"You remember the gundam plans I found in Fox's computer, the ones I couldn't send to you. This is one of them."  
  
"Before we even consider the gundam guys, we have to see what T-Rex girl injected you with. I'm going to need blood samples from all of you." Niko says stuffing his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Ok, Sina, what'd you find?" Niko asks a girl that had the same icy blue eyes as Niko, but her hair was different. It was a white blond color, cut at chin length, and the corkscrew curls that all three of them had bounced all over the place. She was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and loose white pants. Over it all she was wearing a white lab coat. Niko had sent her the blood samples of the five pilots. They sit at a long table, the kind you'd find in a business meeting. Niko sits at the head. Duo and Trowa sit next to each other with Heero, Wufei, and Quatre sit across from them as Daga enters. She takes a seat between Niko and Heero.  
  
"Well, it's made so that the body would use it as stored energy, just like after eating your body uses food for energy and would store the rest as fat." Sina say after a short pause.  
  
"So all we have to do is work it off." Duo says as he taps his fingers on the desk.  
  
"Yes, but it's not that simple."  
  
"What she means Duo is that because it's stored in fat cells, we might never really get rid of it all." Quatre says looking a bit concerned.  
  
"I'm afraid Mr. Winner's right." She says as Shimi walks in. "Unless you really have too, I advise you to stay where you are so we could keep an eye on you."  
  
"So what exactly are you looking for?" Trowa asks.  
  
"The girl said that she was working on a splicer vaccine, so I'm guessing. we're looking for a transformation." Niko leans back in his chair facing Sina on the screen.  
  
"So. we could change like Shimi." Duo says taping his nails faster on the table. That sounds cool, but do I really want to change into an animal especially when I don't know what I'm going to change into. "Exactly, how long it would take to change back if we changed into. you know?" He stops taping and digs his claws into the desk. The others look at him as he jumps up startled at the claw marks in the table and his new claws. Shimi pats him on the head then scratches behind his newly formed cat ears.  
  
"Well for one thing, Duo, if you panic you change," Shimi says half laughing. "That's rule number one. Sit panther boy." He sits down a bit embarrassed. "I'm an expert on splicers when they first start to transform. They all freak out when they first start to change, its natural. If you guys need help in anything just ask me." Wufei stands up and leaves the room after mumbling something under his breath about Shimi's last remark. Why is he always like that? Just ignore him. stay calm. A smile forms on her face after she takes in a deep breath and lets it out. Watch him suffer later when he needs help and can't control it. 


	17. Fight Between Foxes & Fox is What!

Disclaimer: I sssoooooooooooo wish I owned Gundam Wing. but I don't and what ever I said in the last chapter.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 17 *Fight Between Foxes & Fox is What!!* 4:00am  
  
It's three days since the infiltration of Base Nursery. Nothing serious seems to be happening since then and keeping an eye on the guys is easy enough, but the problem is they won't tell you if they start to change. It's obvious Shimi knows what she's doing, but Wufei will have nothing to do with Shimi at all. He keeps mumbling something under his breath about how incompetent she is and usually leaves the room.  
  
Niko and Daga sit alone in the cafeteria. They had giving up of playing a game of trying to figure out what animal the five pilots were spliced with. It was easy to figure out that Duo was a panther and Trowa's a lion. They other three were confusing since they hadn't showed any signs of changing except for Wufei. Every once in a while his eyes would change the familiar deep blue that Niko's seen Fox possess. Finally finding something else to talk about for a change seemed more interesting to Niko anyway.  
  
"Hah! You forget, that's your motto. Knowing you, you're probably working on wedding plans for you and Mr. Stone Yuy. You don't care whether they've got a sense of humor or not, as long as he's cute and strong enough to make your feet leave the ground."  
  
Daga turns beet red and looks like she was about to protest, then changes her mind. Instead she gave her friend a glare to rival Heero's and stood with her arms crossed, angrily waiting for her to continue. Niko met her gaze coolly, and when Daga finally let her arms go to her sides she went on as if nothing had happened.   
  
"So." She plays with a French Fry on her plate before eating it. "How'd ya manage to build a gundam? Last I checked you were livin' on the street."   
  
"Stole most of it," she replies, shrugging. "I met up with Lady Dream and she gives me missions. Did some assassinations to pay for the stuff I couldn't steal." She saw a dangerous look come into Niko's eyes and quickly adds, "Don't worry, no one you knew."   
  
"How's the search for your dad goin'?"   
  
Niko sighs again. "Bad. Jessie and Sina haven't had any luck either. It's as if the bastard just disappeared." She looks at her hamburger for a moment then asks, "So will you help me?"  
  
"Sure," she answers nonchalantly, "Where do we start?"  
  
"That depends, what colonies have you checked?" says a familiar voice from behind them. Niko stares at what people would say would be his twin, but the red hair gave an easy distinction between the two.  
  
"Jessie?" Niko stands up and hugs his brother then gives him a strange look. "How much did you hear?"  
  
"Daga wants to marry Mr. Stone Yuy."  
  
"No way you were here that long."  
  
"I know, but someone forgot to turn off the bug they planted on yourself so I could find you easy."  
  
"I'll leave you two to your reunion. One more thing please drop the accent? It's drivin' me nuts."   
  
"You are way to easily annoyed for your own good," Niko snaps, dropping the accent. She now sounds like she was from the western U.S.  
  
"I know," she answers cheerily. "I think they put it in my genes before I escaped. But at least I'm not afraid to show who I am." She walks back to the door and opens it. "Oh and I'll get your windows tinted before noon. Sweet dreams, babe." She starts walking down the hall. She heard some curses behind her as Daga leaves. Niko hearing her yells at her retreating back.  
  
"Skirt-flippin', street rat, brink!"  
  
"Transvestite vampire," she calls over her shoulder and turned down another corridor. She ran into Sally, who looks like she was trying very hard to contain her laughter. Daga gave her a grin and walks on to the hanger. After tinting Fallen Angel's windows, she notices the cockpit of ShadowScythe is open. She moves a bit closer to the suit to get a better sent of who it is. Huh, that's strange. I'd expect Heero or Trowa to be the ones to check things out not Wufei.  
  
After taking a piece of what looked like elastic tar from the ring over head, Wufei examines it closely. He notices tiny wires in it like the ones you'd see on a computer chip. Light weight making it better then a space suit that just weighs you down. Something tells me getting the suit on to pilot this gundam in a test within itself because she doesn't make anything easy to work. He looks around as a few screens turn on around him. No seat means you're free to see what's behind you with the help of extra screens.  
  
He takes a moment to sit Indian style in the center of the platform. The environment in here gives you the feel of an actual hand to hand combat like you would in a duel or karate match. A smile crosses his face. Leave it to Sophia to make a gundam only the strange can use and leave the old for the weak. He gets up and after turning off everything. He notices Daga as he leaves, but decides not to bother with her. As he goes to his room, he stops by Sally's office. He watches a moment before helping her clean up.  
  
"Thanks Wufei," she says as he puts away a few rows of bandages. "Jeff seems to be afraid of doctors and Shimi didn't help either."  
  
"I'm turning in." There's a pause as Wufei closes the cabinet. "There's a restaurant downtown that I've had my eye on lately. I was hoping you'd go with me." Sally looks up at him a bit surprised by his invitation. He still had his back turned to her placing the bottles neatly on the counter. They turn to face each other.  
  
"Sounds like something I'd enjoy."  
  
******  
  
"You're leaving, Quatre?" Duo asks as a limo drives up. Quatre stops looking back at Duo at the door.  
  
"Yes, we're a bit behind on construction and I'm hoping we're not as behind as first thought." He says with a hint of impatience in his voice.  
  
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go?" Duo says doubtingly. "You know about the changing thing. You're more likely then any of us to change Quatre because of your business."  
  
"I know Duo, but I have to get back to work. You understand." Quatre says a little dryly. He looks at his watch. "I have a meeting in a few minutes."  
  
"Just don't over do it," Duo gets a bad feeling as he continues, ".take it easy ok."  
  
"I'll be fine." Quatre turns away from Duo who catches a glimpse of his face go lifeless something he'd never seen before in his friend. Something's. not right, Duo thinks to himself as he watches the limo leave taking Quatre with it.  
  
"What's wrong Duo?"  
  
"Quatre left, Niko and I had a bad feeling when he left." Duo says without looking at him.  
  
"Really. maybe he's just worried about his business that's all."  
  
"No, Quatre's. not the kind of person to be rude in anyway shape or form." Duo says with a worried look on his face.  
  
"Well he dose have an important business he has to get back to, you can't just keep him here against his will." He says patting him on the back. "Come on panther boy. You're colors are showing again." Seeing that his friend was right they walk back inside.  
  
"Speaking of against his will. what happened to Robin the raptor."  
  
".Um, let's just say momma couldn't let her baby girl go."  
  
"About to eat you"  
  
"Ooh yeah."  
  
"Learn anything else."  
  
"Only that her whole family was spliced with dinosaurs and they're the guards of the entire facility."  
  
"Big family"  
  
"Yep. how dose it feel to be a panther anyway?"  
  
"Actually, I really don't feel any different. I don't mind the night vision, but." he scratches his head. "I think I might have fleas." Niko laughs at him.  
  
"I'll buy you a flea collar. How does that sound?"  
  
******  
  
Rashid is relieved after seeing that Quatre made it to the meeting. As he continued to watch however he noticed Quatre acting a little strange. He face seemed dead not his usual manner, and after the meeting he seemed to be lost in his own world. He waits until they make it home and pretty much alone to decide to talk to him.  
  
"Master Quatre is something the matter?" Quatre doesn't answer as though he didn't hear him. Confused by his not replying he tries again. "Quatre- " Tikki enters the hallway from his room.  
  
"So, you came back." Quatre voice had a hint of something that Tikki and Rashid didn't recognize. His face seems almost cold as he looks Tikki dead in the eye.  
  
"Yes, I did, but just for a month or two. is something the matter Rashid? You look a bit upset." He keeps an eye on Quatre.  
  
"Quatre's been acting strangely." Rashid whispers taking Tikki to the side to talk.  
  
"How so?" Tikki says noticing that Quatre was glaring at them like he heard every word. "I think I see what you mean." He moves away from Rashid. "Don't worry just, let me talk to him." Tikki says coming closer to Quatre and places a hand on Quatre's shoulder. An angry look crosses his face before he strikes. Quatre's eyes flicker red as he growls at Tikki. Tikki looks at the wound mark on his arm in disbelief. "He. he bit me."  
  
"Master Quatre" Quatre angrily glares at Rashid with glowing red eyes startling him. The growls that escape his throat weren't human. Rashid takes a step back troubled. Tikki tackles Quatre as he starts for Rashid.  
  
"Quatre snap out of it." The only reply was a vicious growl from an angry canine. He lashes out at Tikki with his newly developed claws and ripped at Tikki's face and neck. They roll down the stares landing in the foyer as a few Maganacs enter.  
  
Tikki gets off Quatre taken aback by his new a found ability to use claw. Tikki covers his face a moment then looks at his newly blood painted hands. There's a long pause as they fiercely look at each other. Rage grows in Tikki. Tikki's eyes blare blue as bears his fangs as Quatre bears his. They go at each other like two dogs ripping and tearing at each other until they both started to change. Blood splatters everywhere as they slash at each other. Rashid and the others just watch in disbelief as they both change into giant foxes.  
  
"Mater Quatre!" They move out of the way as the two combating foxes come closer. Rashid immediately recognized the black and orange pawed fox from the one that saved Quatre once before as he makes it down where the two are fighting. Fox really is a fox. and Quatre is. He stares at the red eyed platinum gold fox that was now stained with blood. The two slowly change back still fighting. Their claws are locked in each other in a power struggle.  
  
"Tikki. Master Quatre please stop."  
  
"Isra stand back or do you want your arm ripped off!" Tikki growls at him Tikki's intense deep blue eyes that make Isra jump back in terror. The others reluctantly move away from the fighting two unable to help their master. Tikki unexpectedly pulls Quatre forward with his right hand and flips him in his back. He quickly gets up and stands his ground. Both breathe heavily waiting for the other to attack first. Tikki charges Quatre strikes, and Tikki jumps over him. Quatre turns around and kicks Tikki into an end table that held a vase of flowers by a spinning kick. There's no way Quatre knows those types of moves. Only those who were trained by the Dragon Clan should know them. There's a pause before Quatre starts to get up.  
  
Tikki charges again, but Quatre anticipated it and blinding speed he stops Tikki in mid air. He jams his claw in Tikki's stomach and then slams him into the ground still holding him down. What's that? Something shiny on Quatre's neck catches his eye that he didn't notice before. Is. that a collar?  
  
"Die" He says calmly using his free claw to puncture Tikki's head like a balloon. Tikki moves his head at the last second; Quatre's claw pierces through the tile floor. With a last ditch effort Tikki with his canines grabs hold of Quatre's neck. Quatre's eyes grow wide. "AAAHHHH!!!" Tikki pins Quatre's claws down so he couldn't do any damage while he ripped at this neck.  
  
Before anyone could help it was all over. Quatre's eyes switch from red to blue-green before being rendered lifeless. Tikki's hair obscures the view of his face and upper body as it flows around him mixing with Quatre's newly grown hair blood stained hair. Tikki finally stands up and holding his shoulder slowly limps somewhat from Quatre's body. He takes a look back at the distraught faces in the room then looks at the broken band in his hand. He angrily crushed it in his hand. Osprey Abdul carefully picks Quatre up off the floor. Tikki finally besieged by his own wounds collapses.  
  
"Don't worry Rashid; Quatre's going to be fine. The teeth marks on his neck weren't that deep. He hasn't awakened yet, but he's going to be just fine." Says the golden rod haired doctor, she lowers her clipboard. "We're getting ready to transfer him to pediatrics soon."  
  
"And what about Tikki. he's going to be ok, right."  
  
"She will be fine."  
  
"She?"  
  
"I'm not surprised you don't know." She says looking at their shocked faces. Another doctor comes in the waiting room holding a bag. "Is this all of it?" she asks taking the bag from him.  
  
"Yes, Iria, this is all her clothes. Shall we transfer her to pediatrics as well?"  
  
"She has a previous stomach wound that was reopened. I want to keep an eye on her." She digs in the bag of clothes and takes out what looked like a half chewed vest. "This little vest she was wearing would make any girl her age look like a boy and because it's thin you can wear it under practically anything."  
  
"Very interesting piece of equipment" Rashid takes the vest and is astounded by the weight of it. It was considerably heavy about the weight of an eight year old. "Why would anyone want to make themselves heavier?"  
  
"That's the same question I was asking myself a few minutes ago." She says as they exit the waiting room where Quatre rests. A girl wearing blue scrubs holds the elevator door open after pushing her big trash bin in the far back. The girl's pig tails resembled lolly pops which stops shoulder length. Her sunglasses give off almost a blue glow in the light of the elevator. An unusual way to wear your hair Rashid thinks to himself. She presses the button for the fifth floor as she blows a bubble. As they make it to the fifth floor theirs a sudden jolt and it stops. Before Iria could press the call button the elevator drops two floors before stopping abruptly.  
  
"Is everyone ok?" The girl gets to her feet as Rashid and Isra help Iria and Abdul to their feet.  
  
"Are you ok master?" Abdul inquires seeing that he's concourse.  
  
"What. what happened?" he asks weakly. "Where am I?"  
  
"You mean you don't remember, Quatre." Quatre looks at Rashid confused. He tries to sit up, but Iria stops him.  
  
"Last thing I remember was turned early after the meeting with the other pilots."  
  
"This is just great." The girl says after opening the little trap door at the top of the elevator. She blows another bubble. "I'll be right back." They watch as she goes through the top. After what seemed like hours she slowly comes back in. "Ok, Dr. Winner, now try it." She discards her red and oily gloves in the trash bin. Hesitant at first she presses the button for the fifth floor. It goes smoothly the rest of the way up.  
  
"Thank you, young lady." Dr. Winner says as they start to exit the elevator.  
  
"No, problem comes naturally." She says blowing another bubble leaning in the doorway of the elevator. "I'll just make sure everybody knows this elevator's out of order." She spits out her gum in the trash then moves out of the way of the door. A man drops down from the roof of the elevator.  
  
"Elevators out of order!" She says after kicking the trash can into him hard knocking him off his feet. "Bye, bye birdie" as she finishes her sentence the elevator drops landing with a devastating crash at the bottom.  
  
"Oh, my god" Dr. Winner and Isra look down the shaft in shock. They turn to the girl with the sunglasses, but she had disappeared. "Where did she go?"  
  
******  
  
"And what's this, Yun?" the crimson eyes of Yun's teacher examines the silver ball carefully in his hands. He sits on the couch next to his student. His cloak spills over the couch resting on the floor.  
  
"I'm not sure, Master Cobra." Yun pauses a moment watching his master turn it over and over in his hand looking for anything to what might be a clue to what it is. "I found it that day the girl attacked Amaya."  
  
"And you decide to give it to me now." He says calmly. "That was at least a month ago."  
  
"Are you angry with me?"  
  
"No." he turns it around more in his hand. "I'm sure you were just trying to figure it out so you wouldn't have to bother me if it wasn't anything important." Now with both hands he examines it again. With his long fangs, he pierces the silver ball and pulls it apart till her had two halves. Yun watches in amazement not saying a word. Cobra places the two halves on the table in front of him. "I'm sure after we analyze this we'll be one step closer to finding this girl." 


	18. Heart of the Dragon

Disclaimer: All unknown characters in this story are all mine except Niko, J.C., and Daga who belong to Niko. I don't own GW, but I wish I did. This is a long one, hope you enjoy.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 18 *Heart of the Dragon* 7:00a.m.  
  
Mr. Lowe sits at his desk writing when a woman without knocking walks in. He looks up angrily, but it soon fades seeing her. He watches her body as she comes closer. Her brown eyes show her true age, but her silky black hair gives her the youth she needs to betray her eyes, somehow managed to keep her figure. She tosses a collar on his desk. He takes his eyes off her long enough to examine it.  
  
"Are you implying something, Ms. Lan?"  
  
"Maybe." he looks at her hard a moment. "It's a mind control device for animals a friend of mine made up about a while back."  
  
"And you're giving me this because?"  
  
"There's a little thing called mass production you can do without being detected."  
  
"And what's in it for me if I do this little favor for you?"  
  
"I give you as many splicers as you want. all on a leash."  
  
"Isn't your son going to be furious?"  
  
"Don't worry about that. He's been taken care of besides they're animals nothing more" she says bluntly. "We put one on each of the prisoners that got an injection from Achan and they're set to kill once activated."  
  
******  
  
The familiar blue glow of the girl's sunglasses starts to dim as she sits at the desk in pediatrics, she hacks into the computer. Tikki Rembu blurrily comes up on the computer screen. That's strange. why is it.? She looks away as it gets worse. Feeling something warm and sticky she looks down at her stomach. Her blue scrubs were being soaked with blood right before her eyes slowly, but surly.  
  
Damn it! I must have irritated it. If I don't delete this information from hospital computer they'll easily find out that Fox and Sophia are the same person then I'd only have Wulan left as my last identify and I don't feel like making more secret identities right now. What's wrong with you!! You never put stuff off because you don't feel like it. Do it because you have to!! But. Can I risk Quatre finding out about me? If I stay here, however, I'll pass out. I have to delete this in case someone hacks into the hospital. Ignoring the dizzy spells she highlights the Tikki Rembu file and presses delete, but nothing happens.  
  
"Huh, why isn't it." she tries it away and again, "What's wrong with this?" Two red eyes pop up on screen then the fox shows itself. "Mischievous. What are you doing! You know I have to delete this!"  
  
The fox's eyes turn sad and blue shaking its head then it holds up a sigh which read, "Stay until your well."  
  
"You know I can't risk that Mischievous," she says angrily.  
  
"I'll watch your file." Mischievous says with another sign. Seeing that she wasn't moving his eyes gush tears like a fountain.  
  
"Ok, ok. I'll stay," she says tiredly finally giving in, "But I only want Iria Winner to be able to access it." The room spins more, but she shakes it away and stands up. "Ok. no, no one else." She moves away from the desk. The room starts to spin again. She doesn't get two feet away before she collapses. She rests a moment before forcing herself up only for the spinning to worsen and collapse again. The floor now glistens with her blood. Though her eyes are open, her surroundings start to fade. Man, I can't die now. There's still soo much I haven't done. I was hoping to see your face one last time. I  
  
******  
  
Heero sits down next to Daga lost in thought as Trowa sets up the chess board. Wufei sits at the end of the couch reading. Shimi enters the room carrying a picnic basket. Seeing Trowa she races over.  
  
"There you are." Trowa stands up when seeing her. "I was looking all over for you." She hugs him before he could move then holds the basket in front of him. "I hope you're hungry because I made lunch." Trowa takes the basket and looks inside.  
  
"He doesn't want to be bothered by you, Shimi." Wufei announces flatly looking up from his book for only a moment.  
  
"Looks appetizing," Trowa says seeing that Wufei's words have hurt her. "Maybe we should enjoy this in the cafeteria." Her eyes light up.  
  
"Really," She takes his hand and leads him out of the room.  
  
"Looks like I just lost my chess partner. so Heero do you want to play?"  
  
I Wufei stands up startled. He literally starts to sweat as worry plasters itself on his face.  
  
"Wufei, what's the matter?" Daga asks with concern, but he didn't seem to hear her. He quickly leaves the room leaving the two alone. "Ok." she turns to Heero noticing he also seemed a bit worried. "What is it worry hour? .What's the matter Heero?"  
  
"Hum," he looks at her a moment before taking the black box from his pocket. He places it on the little table a few inches from the couch they were sitting for her to see.  
  
"What's this?" she says picking it up and examining it.  
  
"The memory system of a robot Fox made. If we decode it, I'm sure we can find the base where he's hiding the rest of the gundams." She looks at Heero a moment then hands the cube to him.  
  
"If that's true then why are you so worried?" There's a long pause in the room.  
  
"I forgot I had it."  
  
******  
  
"How do you feel, Master Quatre?" Abdul helps him sit up as Isra gets him his food tray.  
  
"A lot better, I feel well enough to walk around." He plants his feet on the ground as a new smell almost overwhelms him.  
  
"Is something the matter, Master?"  
  
"I. I smell something. A heavy smell, I think it's. blood."  
  
"Blood, Master?"  
  
"Yes," Quatre stands up with the four Maganacs following him he follows the sent. The heavy sent of blood gets stronger as he goes to the front desk. No nurses or doctors are present. Following the sent leads him to the other side of the desk.  
  
"That's the girl from the elevator." Isra says remembering the girl's lolly pop pony tails. Quatre and the others quickly go to her.  
  
"Quick Amin get a doctor, and Asim get a towel to stop the bleeding." He takes the shades off the girl. "Huh, Sophia," He says in shock as her eyes stare back at him. "How did-" his throat swells with pain seeing her cutting him off. His eyes start to fill with tears. Suddenly her body heaves. He quickly turns her over as she throws up. A wave of relief washes over him. She breaths rapidly and her eyes close halfway as they focus on her surroundings. After resting her head on his chest, she grabs hold of his shirt like a baby clings to its mother. Just then Dr. Winner kneels down next to Quatre.  
  
"Oh my God, that's why she looked so familiar." She says as Asim finally comes with the towel. She pulls on his shirt and clutches her teeth as the doctor applies pressure to the girl's wound. "I can't believe she got so big."  
  
"You know Sophia?" Quatre asks in surprise.  
  
"Yes, I do because I'm her family doctor."  
  
"Family doctor?"  
  
"Yes, but for some reason I haven't seen her in almost ten years." She places a hand on Sophia's forehead. "She's cold and she's lost a lot of blood she's going to need a transfusion. Quatre, would you mind giving blood for a transfusion? You two have the same blood type and it will be faster that way."  
  
"Of course; she's been. more then just a friend to me." He says softly looking down at her.  
  
******  
  
Wufei hurries down the hallway. Calm down, you know she can take care of herself. You helped train her remember. but she never apologizes unless she's in trouble or. He picks up speed and is soon running down the hallway. If anything happens to her.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
A Chinese girl about five ran up the hill to where Wufei was reading. At the top she casually walked to him. He looked up into eyes that resembled his only with a hint of brown cut into it which disappeared when you weren't face to face. She had her hair in pig tails and wore a similar uniform to his.  
  
"I had a feeling I'd find you here," she said sitting next to him. What you think about it my fight, yesterday?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Hum. You've excelled faster then I first anticipated."  
  
"Then, I'm going to enter the Jr. Tournament."  
  
"You're not ready for a tournament yet," he said sternly. "You still have a lot to learn before you can enter, maybe in two or three years." She looked at him. After a moment of thinking she curls up in a ball.  
  
"Are you still going to step up my training, Wufei? .I've been getting the feeling that. you've been avoiding me." She looked at her feet waiting for a reply. Wufei finally closed his book and looked at her.  
  
".Since mother died and father sending us off to boarding houses. maybe I have been a bit distant lately. sorry about that. I didn't mean to be distant." Two boys around seven or eight came running up the hill with a ball.  
  
"Hey, Wufei, you want to play?" the taller boy asked as Wufei stood up.  
  
"I promised I'd train, Sophia." She stood up as the two glance over at her.  
  
"Why waste your time training her for?" the shorter one asked coldly. "She'll just be a bother to you." Wufei ignores their comments and with his book in hand starts down the hill. He motions for Sophia to follow.  
  
"Hey!" Wufei turned in time for Sophia to roll past him. On impulse he raced after her. When he got close enough, he jumped into the river that past behind the boarding house where he studied.  
  
"Sophia, are you ok?" he asked turning her over. Her clothes were covered with grass stains and her hair was messed up from the fall. Her pants had a new hole at the knee. She looked up at his as thought nothing happened. She sat up facing him.  
  
"Can we go now?" she said a bit impatient.  
  
". of course we can." He said with a smile seeing that she was ok. On impulse he jumped up suddenly and knocked the ball away from her head. He glared angrily at the two boys. "Attacking someone from behind is dishonorable!"  
  
"She's just a girl; she shouldn't be learning marshal arts anyway. Why waste your time training her?" the taller one said cynically.  
  
"What I do is my business, Ahfu," Wufei said coldly. "I don't have to explain myself to you." He turned away aggravated while Sophia went to pick up his book. Both boys gang up on her, but she easily maneuvers herself out of the way of Ahfu then kicked him hard in the stomach. She tripped Ahfu's partner into the river as he went down. Wufei stopped and looked back hearing the sudden explosion of water. Ahfu grabbed at her, but missed grasping the book instead. He lifted the book high in the air, but she clung to it like a dog playing chew tug. Wufei quickly hurries back.  
  
"Let gooo." Ahfu punched her in the stomach and she instantly released it. The force of the blow sent her flying into the river. Wufei quickly fished her out knowing she couldn't swim.  
  
"Sophia, are you ok" he asked as she coughed up the water. She took a moment before she looked up at him.  
  
"I failed; I'm sorry, Wufei ." she said low enough that only he could hear.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
The way she said it just now. was different. Something's wrong. I know it.  
  
"Wufei" he turns at the sound of his name realizing he had stopped in front of Sally's office. "What's wrong?"  
  
"So, you think she's close and she's hurt pretty badly." Sally says after checking his temperature for the second time. "You're worrying too much, Wufei."  
  
"No. I know for a fact that she's hurt. I know it sounds strange to you, Sally, but Sophia and I. how can I put this?" He looks down a moment. "When I'm around her. we. we have a link. That we can speak to each other without talking. A few minutes ago she just spoke to me. It was brief and weak. That's how I know she's close, because it doesn't work at far distances." He pauses a moment then looks at her waiting for a reply. "You don't believe me don't you?"  
  
"It's a little hard to believe., but you're not the type to play jokes. I don't know." She turns off one of the lights. His eyes give of a deep blue glow. "You wouldn't think black eyes would give off such an intense blue glow." She picks up the thesis scope then checks his ears.  
  
"I'm not crazy, Sally." He says stopping her from checking his mouth by warmly taking hold of her chin. He kisses her. I don't need a check up, Sally; I'm fine.  
  
The kiss ends and she looks at him stunned. There's no way he could have said that while he was kissing me, Sally thinks to herself still astounded by what just happened.  
  
"You're. telepathic." He sighs shaking his head.  
  
".but I prefer not to use it, so it's not exactly as strong unless Sophia's close by. She's psychic in the sense of having visions. I didn't want to tell. I was afraid you'd see me differently."  
  
"It's. unlike you to care about what others think, Wufei." He wraps his arms around her; she does the same.  
  
"I only care what the people I care for think, Sally." He says softly placing his forehead on hers before kissing her again.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Then it's true. I really am a bother to you." Wufei turned to face her. She avoided his eyes by gazing at her feet. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, Wufei." Her eyes weld with tears. She tried her best not to cry, but the tears spill over her tiny hands when she tried to rub them away.  
  
"Who told you that? I never thought of you as a bother and I never will." He used his thumb to wipe her tears away cupping her face in his hands. "Come, it's time for bed anyway." She shook her head in agreement. "You want to take a ride on the dragon?" Sophia's eyes light up and quickly hoped on his back. With a steady fast pace he raced down the corridor which held a giant number of suits Sophia's father made. Oblivious of the suits the two continued on and laughed enjoying the moment together.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Sophia gasps opening her eyes. Steadily she slows her breathing to normal as the room comes into focus. Seeing the snow white wall she remembers where she is. The off white blanket gives secondary coloring to the room. The straw like tubing of the IV catches her eye, tracing it from her arm to the machine on her left catches Quatre as he looks up on the bed next to hers. She sits up, but only partly due to the ripping, burning pain in her stomach. She quickly sees he's also connected to the same machine.  
  
"Sophia, you should lie still. You're in no condition to move around." She grits her teeth as she lies back down eyeing Isra and Abdul on her right guarding the door.  
  
"I'm glad to see you're doing better then me." She says weakly, "I wasn't sure if I should stay or not, but it seems I had not choice in the matter. It's bad enough my cyber partner wouldn't let me leave none the less my own body."  
  
"So you finally woke up," Dr. Winner walks in to Sophia's bed then hands her something. "I'm guessing you put these little devices on many people."  
  
"I bet you're the only one who actually found my little device, Iria." Sophia places the dime sized clear patch on her index finger. "I'm surprised it didn't explode on you like Quatre's did."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"No more. You're too weak!" Sophia pulls out a gun and fires. As the bullet grazes the tip of his ear, there's a small explosion that jerks him sideways.  
  
"AH!" Quatre clutches his left ear and everything starts to spin. His vision starts to go out, but he looks up in time to see Sophia jumps off the other side of the building with some kind of yellow board in hand. He could hear Rashid and the others calling his name with great concern. When he feels himself slip, he tried in vain to get a grip on something.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
So, that's what that explosion was. Quatre continues to listen interested.  
  
"It's funny how something as simple as changing she to he can change a person's perspective of things." So that's how she kept her identity a secret. Her device makes the person perceive a person as two people.  
  
******  
  
"Ok, Jeff your wrist seems to have healed fine." Sally carefully takes the cast off his wrist. "How does it feel now?" He moves his stiff wrist around after quickly turning his gaze from hers when their eyes met.  
  
"Um. better" he says shyly. "Aren't you. I mean. Why did you help me? Aren't I your prisoner. since I've been here no one's pumped me for information."  
  
"Do you want to be treated like a prisoner?" she asks looking at him.  
  
"No. it's just that everyone's be either nice to me or not acknowledged me."  
  
"Well, we'll most likely be asking you questions sooner or later. Things have just been a little hectic since you guys got back." She throws the cast away. "Can you take a seat, Jeff I'd like to do a full check up, just in case?" He sits down as she checks his pause and eyes. "Well you look-" she stops noticing something on his neck. "What's this?"  
  
"Huh, what's what?" She reaches for his neck, but he moves away.  
  
"It's ok Jeff. I won't hurt you; theirs something on your neck." As she touches it, it becomes visible. "Just hold still." She carefully takes it off. "It's. a collar," she says as they both look at it in flabbergasted.  
  
******  
  
"Thanks for getting me out of there, Quatre. I didn't know how long I could have taken that horrible hospital food." Sophia says as they exit the hospital with Quatre.  
  
"Your welcome, but you have to promise to take it easy, Sophia. I already feel guilty for discharging you a day early." He says opening the limo door for her.  
  
"I'd prefer if you'd still call me Tikki instead of Sophia, Quatre." She says as he closes the door sitting next to her. "Calling me Sophia might bring unwanted guests, Quatre though I think they'd given up on you for a while." She puts on her seat belt then sits back crossing her arms. Damn it! I don't want to bring Quatre into this. not again. It's because of me he's part splicer now. She sighs. But I have no choice. "The collar." Quatre looks at her as he buckles his own seat belt. She continues slowly. ".that I found on you. I think the others might have one on them as well. I want to go and check it out, but. I might need some assistance. if what you told me is correct about you all getting injected."  
  
"You really think so, Sophia?" Sophia told me what happened when I was under the control of the collar. Even now I'm slowly remembering what happened. If it wasn't for her. who knows what I would have done. That's why I have to get her to train us, so we can help her, but how can I convince her?"  
  
"I think I'd be best for my men if I went away for a while. I think they'd get caught up on construction if they'd knew I was safe else ware. Staying here only makes me a distraction."  
  
"Distraction? You're not a distraction, Quatre, why is it that you always put yourself down?" She uncrosses her arms pausing as the limo starts to move. "But if you feel that way. your friends are the safest bet in my book."  
  
"So. you do consider me worthy enough to be your partner, Sophia?" She looks at, Quatre a moment then turns away from him before he could see her blush knowing he was right re-crossing her arms.  
  
"I didn't say that. I just need you to get me in the place, that's all." She says through clinched teeth. "I wouldn't have asked you otherwise."  
  
"I guess." He stares at her a bit satisfied by her reaction. "I was wrong then." He sits back. 


	19. A Mission Gone Wrong

Disclaimer: I repeat: All unknown characters in this story are all mine except Niko, J.C., and Daga who belong to Niko. I don't own GW, but I wish I did. Enjoy.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 19 *A Mission Gone Wrong* 7:00a.m.  
  
"Finding out Sophia and Fox are the same person was a surprise for me too." Quatre says pouring tea for the others. "Since the little devices she made disrupts common decision making about a person's identity and gender. She most likely planted one on everyone." Reaching up they all remove the tiny devices except Wufei who didn't have physical contact to Sophia like the others. Suddenly Quatre notices that they all look a bit uneasy. "Is something wrong? " he asks in concern.  
  
"Do you have any aspirin, Quatre?" Trowa asks.  
  
"Yeah, lately we've been having some major headaches." Duo says rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"I know what you mean. I'll go get it." He gets up and exits the room. That's weird Trowa doesn't usually ask for anything. As Quatre enters the bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet, he gets a funny feeling. Something's. not right. He thinks to himself as he looks at the bottle of aspirin he just picked up.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Even thought you're afraid of changing again, Quatre, you have animal instincts and you have to learn to trust them as well as your new abilities." Sophia sits on a stool with her natural calm face.  
  
"I don't know if I can, Sophia." He looks up at her concerned. "I nearly killed Rashid and the others with my. with my bare hands." He looks at his own hand as thought stained with blood. "I'm afraid I'll change again and."  
  
"That won't happen because you're a naturally kind person Quatre." Sophia places her hands in his then turns them over then back so his palms are facing up ward. "You can't blame yourself if you're being controlled Quatre, besides. Your hands look clean to me. I'm going in through the vents while you go through the front. I can't have them knowing I'm here, ok. It might activate the collars."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
I have to learn to trust my animal instincts, but how do I know what to do?  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"That's something. you'll have to figure out on your own, Quatre." She pauses and her face softens. "Even I. don't know what to do, all the time."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Quatre closes the medicine cabinet and the reflection in the mirror shows Heero behind him. He turns to face his leader startled. "Heero, I'm sorry did I keep you and the others too long?" Heero's eyes glow red.  
  
"We need you back, Quatre." He says taking a silver collar from his pocket. Quatre drops the bottle of aspirin and struggles to stop Heero from putting the collar on him.  
  
"Heero stop this!" he could feel himself losing the struggle. With all his might he knees Heero in the stomach. "Sorry" he dashes out the door and bumps into Duo.  
  
"Whoa, where's the fire, Quatre?" He pushes Quatre back into Trowa and Wufei who grab hold of him. Quatre struggles, but they hold him in place. "We need your help to get Sophia."  
  
"Hold him" Heero emerges from the bathroom with the collar in hand.  
  
"Heero please" Quatre says still struggling. "Don't do this."  
  
"This one is different then the one you had on before. You won't kill anyone. unless you have to." Heero unbuttons his shirt to expose his neck then snaps the collar around his neck and watches as Quatre tries to fight off the mind control in vain. Quatre finally stops struggling as his eyes glow red.  
  
"So, what do you say Quatre? You're going to help us get Sophia or what?" Duo asks as Quatre's eyes return to normal.  
  
"Not just Sophia, but the others as well, but first Sophia and Shimi." he says buttoning his shirt to conceal the collar around his neck.  
  
Fox pokes her head from out of the vent. Seeing that the coast was clear she jumps down. I wonder where, Quatre is now. She enters the closest room and gets a bad feeling as the door closes behind her. Quatre closes the book he's reading and places it on the small table in front of him made with a glass center. She looks around at the other four pilots a bit surprised then returns to her calm stare. Oh. no.  
  
"So. you told them."  
  
"Sorry, Sophia I had to. you're. not mad at me are you?"  
  
"What's done is done." She turns to Wufei.   
  
A smile crosses her face briefly as she moves closer to him. Suddenly she gets a feeling of dread and stops. Something's. not right here. She looks at all five of them a moment then returns to Wufei. I feel like I'm surrounded. Of course they think you're going to run off again. She looks hard at Wufei. She looks into his black eyes moving a bit closer. Her blood suddenly runs cold.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"I'm fighting for what I believe in." He comes closer his eyes showing only the determination of catching her. "Are you?" The sword comes down on the side of her face so she kicks the sword out of his hand. It goes flying hitting the wall beside her barley missing a soldier's head.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
That look. it's the same. Sophia backs up from Wufei fear plastered on her face. Before she could move back any further he seizes her wrist.  
  
I almost forgot. You tell something's wrong by just looking into my eyes. He blocks a side kick and grabs her fist when she tries to punch him in the face. He trips her. She scoots away from him as she sits up. He looms over her waiting for her to stand up.  
  
What's the matter with you! Quit acting like a scared rabbit and FIGHT. She stands up and facing him then they both go in a fighting stance after moving a few steps back. The others watch as the two go at it. No matter how many punches and kicks she did Wufei either dodged or blocked them.  
  
He waits a moment for her to rest before he starts his attack. At first the punches and kicks received were easy to dodge but they steadily got faster and more powerful. A kick in the face knocks her to the ground. She stands up determined. She does a few side kicks before taking him by surprise with a spinning kick.  
  
He slams into the wall then she punches him in the stomach. He stands up and does another set of punches and kicks. Finding a weak moment she manages to get him with a high kick and then turns around doing a side kick. Wufei falls to his knees obviously hurt. A feeling of relief comes over her as she turns to her next opponent, Heero who holds his ground.  
  
"You're not done quite yet." He says in his normal inert voice and face.  
  
"Huh" as she turns around she's punched, sidekick in the face. She continues standing until she's thrown into the table by a powerful jump kick. There's a long pause as she lies there among the shattered glass of the mirror, broken wood, and her own blood.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Wufei says sternly. "Or do I have to waste any more time with a pupil I clearly wasted my time training."  
  
"You're. you're not Wufei." she cries out then grits her teeth as she struggles to sit up. She looks at him in disbelief. He shows no signs of being wounded. He shouldn't be standing. that sidekick should have broken at least two of his ribs. She stands up ignoring her aching body and burning cuts from the glass. Heero punches her in the face. Ok, that's it. now I'm pissed! She punches him back then kicks him in the stomach before Trowa takes hold of her from behind. Heero clutches the collar of her shirt and brings back his fist ready to punch her. For some reason he stops and lets go of her shirt then with Duo walk to the door. Why are they stopping? She hears a familiar voice outside. "Shi-" Wufei covers her mouth before she could call out her partner's name. The door opens and Shimi enters the room confused especially seeing Sophia's predicament.  
  
"What are you guys doing?" She asks moving closer, but her only response from the Wufei and Trowa are glowing red eye that make Sophia shiver. Duo and Heero jump Shimi from behind. She slams Duo into Heero sending them skidding halfway across the room. "Ok fellas let her go." They release Sophia then all at once go after Shimi. "Sorry guys." She punches Trowa in the stomach then kicks him into Wufei. She knocks them down like dominos then turns to Sophia. "Go on Sophia I'll take care of these guys and figure out what's wrong with them. Contact Niko and Daga, K, to figure out this problem."  
  
"I know what's controlling them. They have on some kind of control device on their necks besides I can't just leave you, Shimi."  
  
"Sure you can, I can handle these guys. I've done it before. Go on, we're going to need the back up and you know it." Shimi watches Sophia leave the room. Well, at least I get to beat up Wufei and not get in trouble. Revenge is sweet. The multiple growls behind her startle her. She looks behind her in time to see them finish their transformations. Ok, this I wasn't expecting.  
  
******  
  
"Can't find something, Sophia?" she turns startled and jumps back seeing the familiar blond behind her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you?" He moves closer to her, but she backs away from him. "You're badly hurt. Let me help you, Sophia." He takes her wrist when she moves away from him again. Before she could pull her hand back he carefully turns her arm and takes a better look at her injuries. Concern crosses his face. "I'm sorry Sophia. this is my fault for not helping you."  
  
"It's not your fault. There's no way you'd have been a match for Wufei anyway, Quatre. No use for us both to get beat up besides you have to make them believe you still had that collar on." Is this really. Quatre? She looks at Quatre feeling confused and unsure, but keeps her normal calm exterior. No, keep your guard up.  
  
"Let's get those wounds taken care of." he says opening the bathroom door and goes inside. He soon comes out with a first aid kit. He sits on the nearest bed in the room which could bunk many like you'd find in a summer camp. Not wanting to show hesitation she sits next to him. There's a long pause as he begins to bandage her arm after cleaning it. "Now take off your shirt." She gives him a strange look as he fumbles for some more bandages in the kit.  
  
"Take off my shirt."  
  
"Yes, so I can bandage your back." Sophia slams the lid shut on the first aid kit nearly crushing his fingers in the process. She leans forward on the lid getting really close to Quatre's face. He moves back uneasy. "Is something wrong Sophia?"  
  
"What did you mean by that really, Quatre?" she says annoyed.  
  
"I, I just want to bandage your back that's all." The bed post stops him as Sophia's deep blue fox eyes burn into his their faces almost touching. "You know I'm not like that, Sophia." She sits up crossing her arms.  
  
"Sorry, I but I'm still shaken by the look Wufei gave me. what he said to me." She says then changes the subject. "I wasn't expecting their technology to have gotten so advanced." She stands up and walks to the nearest vent but doesn't go in. She stands there thinking Quatre walks up to her.  
  
"You feel guilty don't you? I can tell." He puts a hand on her shoulder. She glances at Quatre then goes back to thinking.  
  
"We need to get the collars off each of them one by one. I'm too weak to fight them all at once."  
  
"I have to show you something." He takes out a silver collar from his pocket and shows it to her. She looks at him startled.  
  
"Where did you get that?" she says stunned as he pulls her close into a hug.  
  
He moves his mouth close to her ear and whispers, "Heero gave it to me right after he put one on me." Her eyes grow wide. She rips herself from Quatre and backs up into the bathroom door. "Don't make this harder for yourself, Sophia. Just hold still and it'll all be over in a few minutes." He says coming closer. She fumbles for the door knob. He backs up avoiding a high kick then goes into the bathroom locking the door behind her. She sinks to the floor feeling a bit dizzy. How could I have let him get so. close to me?  
  
******  
  
Shimi turns the corner and stops leaning on the wall to catch her breath. Ok, Tigris you went a bit over your head. I can handle a wolf. Wufei no problem, panther, Duo piece of cake. A lion, Trowa. I'd like to handle him any day. She snickers to herself. But a bear. the approaching thundering paws bring her back. She holds her breath as the pounding stops suddenly. Curious she looks around the corner. Not seeing anyone she notices the elevator not too far from where she was standing. Elevator awaits you girl. She goes to the elevator and presses the button. I just hope Sophia contacted the others yet. I hate to admit it, but I'm going to need help on this one especially with Sophia probably now at half strength. She specializes in speed, agility, and wits and me speed, stamina, and power. The doors open slowly, but she doesn't go in.  
  
"AAHHH!!" she backs up into an end table as the bear come crashing down on his front paws. She veers sharply to the left letting the table take the full force of the bear claw as it rips the table to sheds in one swipe. Unfortunately, she reaches a dead end. "Well, I'm dead." Falling to her knees she cries, "If I knew I was going to die today. I would have at least asked Trowa out." She turns around to face the bear that wasn't alone. "Can't I a least have a fair fight?" The five pilots stand up as they change back to their original selves.  
  
"What do you say Heero? Should we play fair?" Duo asks crossing his arms then looks at Heero for a response.  
  
"Why not?" as though reading Heero's mind Trowa steps forward. The other three turn and walk away.  
  
"Wait, where are you going?"  
  
"We have business elsewhere, woman for us all to waste our time with you." Wufei exclaims coldly. Elsewhere... oh no Shimi runs forward, but Trowa seizes her arm. They both glare at each other.  
  
"Answer me this Trowa. Where's Quatre?"  
  
"Taking care of Sophia," He says calmly, "After that fight with Wufei she won't be strong enough to fight him off." The surprise on her face is replaced with furry as she bears her fangs and attacks.  
  
******  
  
Sophia looks down at the floor after digging in her pocket. This might be useful after all. She looks up at the shower door then at the window just big enough for her to squeeze through. There's a knock on the door.  
  
"Sophia please opens the door or I'll be forced to break it down." A chill runs down her spine. He doesn't sound controlled at all. The jungle of the knob is heard. "Sophia I'm not going to ask you again. Please open the door for me." She gets up but her foot slips. She looks down at the blood on the floor. Maybe I should have let him bandage my back after all. Finally standing up she places the mini computer lock on the shower door. Out of nowhere Quatre's claw comes crashing through the door. "You're upsetting me, Sophia." He says red eyes blaring through the hole in the door he made. He then reaches for the door knob. Sophia manages to get in and close the shower door just as he makes it in.  
  
"Try and crack the code, Quatre." his eyes return to normal seeing the mini lock. He looks at her a moment then sighs.  
  
"I'll play your little game then, Sophia." She goes over to the window and starts to go through it. Just as she's halfway out, Quatre grabs her and pulls her back in. "I'm surprised how light you are, Sophia." He says keeping a good grip on the struggling girl.  
  
"Put me down, Quatre!" A wave of dizziness nearly causes her to black out. After it however she finds herself on her back with Quatre sitting on top of her. He carefully takes the collar out of his pocket then places it around her neck.  
  
"You're too weak to fight me, Sophia." He says sternly keeping the collar closed on her neck as she tries to take it off. "So why do you insist on trying!" He says through clinched teeth as he waits patiently for the collar to take control.  
  
******  
  
Niko climbs out of the shower and changes clothes. He turns off the lights and leaves the room then walks past through a training room, equipment room, kitchen, and the living room and continues to dry his hair as he exits his gundam. I definitely need to stock up on food before I decide to leave. He looks around when something caught his eye. Someone's here. He listens careful for a moment then slowly turns around. He jumps seeing Duo behind him and breaths a sigh of relief.  
  
"Duo, you actually scared me."  
  
"Sorry, Niko, I didn't mean to scare you." He puts a hand behind his head with embarrassment. Niko turns reopening the door to Fallen Angel. "Just kill you." Niko turns in surprise at the sound of his words and just misses his claws as they pierce the metal door by his head. Niko quickly slips into the door and manages to close the door behind him shaken, but alive. "It doesn't do you any good if you hide from me."  
  
Niko gasps as his claw comes through the door. Why in the world's gotten in to, Duo? Why would he want to kill him, for? He moves away from the door and watches him come in from behind the counter. His eyes glow a blood red that sent a chill down his spine. He sinks down taking his eyes off Duo. Ok, there's no way that's Duo.  
  
"HI YA, NIKO!" Niko jumps again. He turns his head to see Duo behind him. Niko jumps to the side as he slashes at him with his claws. The drawer over his head explodes sending forks, spoons, and knifes raining around him. Duo slashes again. Niko flinches as he slashes him across the chest. Duo stops in surprise. Niko takes the allowed time to feel the floor.  
  
Dame it, Niko thought as she watched Duo's mouth go slack as he looks at her chest. She felt herself go red in the face. Well, I guess that means I'm out of the closet. Duo grabs her neck angrily and starts to squeeze the life from her. She grabs hold of a knife and gashes his neck. He snatches the knife from her hand unflinching. To her surprise there was no blood, but he continues to squeeze his neck. Why didn't it work? That's when she saw sparks fly from his neck. He's a robot? White spots start to form in her eyes from the lack of air. She tries to remove his claws from her neck, but he slowly starts to dig his nails into her neck. Suddenly the collar comes into view. What's that? As a last ditch effort she reaches for it. Completely focused on the art of choking her doesn't try and stop her. She manages to get a good grip on it and pulls the metal collar that refused to budge. Duo's eyes flicker back to normal then red again as she touched it. Well, what ever this thing is it's got to go. Come on Damn it MOVE!! As though reading her mind it budges and begins to slip off his neck.  
  
"You never trusted me did you Niko. I thought you were my friend, Niko. You've saved my life countless times now. I've saved yours just as many." Duo speaks almost coldly. A stab of pain hits Niko as he continues. "How could you not have trusted me enough to have told me about this?" With the last of her strength she manages to rip the collar off. He immediately releases her. Niko gasps filling her lungs with air gulping greedily holding her bloody neck. There's a long moment of silence before Duo finally decides to break it.  
  
"Who are you?" he says softly feeling betrayed. She continues to look at the ground gripping the collar in her hands. She hated herself for not telling him. The safe house Fox set up for her family was finally completed and they had moved in five weeks ago. She could have revealed herself anytime since then, but she kept on lying to Duo though she knew it was wrong. She almost wanted to run off and leave Duo there, so he could be rid of her and the horrible feeling that she's a traitor would disappear.   
  
"My name is Kokuei Nikomi Shayindu. Niko has always been my nickname. It's in honor of my mother, Nikomi." She sighs and went on in a rush as if she couldn't hold it in anymore. "I'm so sorry Duo. I wanted to tell you, I did. It's just that every time I started to you looked at me and I could tell that if I ever told you, you wouldn't be my friend anymore, that you wouldn't be able to understand!" Her voice is choked with emotion and she lifts her head to meet his gaze her eyes are filled with tears. He's shocked. Niko never cries.   
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ It was after they got back from Base Nursery Duo had been congratulating Niko on her fighting skills.  
  
"Whoa, dude, that was great! You da man!" Niko was kind of pale and there was a sad look in her eyes.  
  
"Niko, what's wrong," he'd asked. She'd looked him in the eyes as if searching for something and bit her lip.   
  
"It's just that." then she had shook her head and looked at him again, all of the previous emotion wiped from her face. "Forget it, it's nothing. Let's go get some lunch."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ "Come on in, Niko! The water's fine!" Duo had discovered the base's swimming pool that day. He had run back to his room, thrown on his swimming trunks and gotten into the water. Niko had come by and seen him playing in the water like a little kid.   
  
"No thanks," she'd called. "I don't have a suit!"  
  
"Then you can borrow my other one! Come on!"   
  
She had looked at him piercingly as though she were trying to see inside him, and he later thought he had imagined her lower lip tremble a little and her eyes had looked like those of a frightened doe.  
  
"No thanks again," she'd called. "I don't like to swim." And with that she had walked back inside.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Many other memories come up when she looked like she was going to say something and she gave him that searching look, then made an excuse or changed the subject. He looks back at Niko. Her eyes are still streaming. What have I done, he thought, suddenly horrified and disgusted with himself. How could I have believed she didn't trust me? That she let me down? She had every right not to tell me! I reacted just like she has afraid I would, just like she hoped I wouldn't! She knows me so well she knew that's what I'd think, and she didn't want me to hate her. She thinks I hate her! He looks over at her again and felt his own eyes begin to prickle with tears. How can I hate her for not wanting to be abandoned? How can I hate her for wanting to keep one of the few people she'd ever gotten close to?  
  
Seeing Duo start to cry only made her feel guiltier. I should have never become a pilot. Then I wouldn't have partnered up with Duo and I never would have hurt him like this. She gets up and starts for her room. She just wanted to get out as fast as she could so she wouldn't hurt her friend anymore. Instead I'll find my father and hurt him. At least I can rid the world of a scumbag who's a little worse than me. He deserves pain, not Duo.   
  
"Where are you going," he calls after her.   
  
"Somewhere other than here," she responds, "Somewhere where I don't care if I hurt someone. Somewhere where I will be completely alone and no one will take pity on the fact that I'm sorry for the things I've done!"  
  
"Why?"   
  
"So I can take my punishment and find a way never to repeat this."   
  
"But what if I don't want you to go? What if I want you to stay here and be my friend?" Niko stops and spins around. Duo stands about two yards behind her. He walks toward her slowly.   
  
"You don't understand," she protests. "I hurt you too much too be forgiven! If I stay I'll hurt you even more, just by being here! You'll never be able to forget that I lied to you!" Her voice is swollen with emotion obscuring her speech. She hadn't talked like this since Daga had told her about her horrible past when they were seven and the Shayindus had taken her in. Duo stands inches away from her now, and he takes her by the shoulders and looks her straight in the eyes.   
  
"I understand perfectly. And I see no fault in my partner," he verbalizes softly. "Come on; let's get your neck bandaged, k. We have some work to do before collars starts to become a trend." 


	20. Operation: Take Back

Disclaimer: All characters from the Gundam Wing series don't belong to me. Niko, J.C., and Daga belong to Niko Nightwind herself. I don't own GW, but I wish I did. Enjoy and please R&R.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 20 *Operation: Take Back* 7:00a.m.  
  
The fierce sound of fighting cats echo through the hallow hall. The tearing and gnashing of teeth on cloths and skin leaving rips in their bodies then they pull away from each other staring one another down. Shimi changes back from being a brown tiger and rises. She ignores her shredded shirt that was now just enough to cover her breasts. Her burning arms and legs start to drip with blood. The only way to get that thing off is with my bare hands.  
  
Trowa leaps at her and she instantly ceases his collar as she hits the wall. He claws at her as she tries to pull it from his neck. Her hands throb signaling their pleading for rest. He pins her to the wall almost biting her wrist. Trowa slowly transforms back as her demands by her hands weigh out her strength. He pulls back; she loses her grip on the collar. His eyes glow red indicating the continual function of the device. With blinding speed he punches her in the face knocking her to the ground.  
  
"AHH!" He grabs the lock of her hair and yanks her to her knees.  
  
"Nice try, Shimi, but you'll have to try a lot harder then that." She kicks Trowa powerfully in the stomach. He immediately releases her and she tackles on him reaching once again for the collar.  
  
"That thing's coming off." He grabs recovering quickly her wrists and pushes her off him. Still holding her wrists her slams her into the wall. She kicks him in the balls. "Sorry, Trowa, but this is for your own good." She punches him in the face. She beats him up as he slowly recovers from her recent kick. She stops as he lies still on the ground. She catches her breath watching him closely. She carefully goes over and hesitant at first turns him over. "Now to get that thing off him" says as reaching for the collar once again. Just as she touches it he springs to life and throws her into the floor. "AAHHH!!"  
  
"For my own good is it." Trowa says his eyes blazing. He knocks her head into the floor a few times then slaps her. He rips her from the floor to her feet. "I don't know why I even bothered being nice to you. I didn't even get the information I wanted from you. All you were nothing, but a bother to me." Another punch sends her flying into the wall. This time however she didn't stand or look up as he came towards her. He kicks her in the face knocking her face first into the ground. He steps on her head, but she does nothing to protect herself. "What's the matter, Shimi? You're fighting back this time." He kneels down next to her then lifts her head up to his. Tears stain her eyes and face.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ "I believe my friends would like something to drink as well," Trowa said after she stared at him for at least five minutes straight.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Shimi said blushing then hands Heero and Duo a drink. "I'm sorry about that, excuse me." She exited the back room and jumped into a bathroom. Trowa watched her exit quickly.  
  
"G's, Trowa, you stole her away from me with one look."  
  
"Hum," Trowa turns to face Duo.  
  
"I think she likes you, Trowa."  
  
"If you want her, she's yours, Duo."  
  
"I don't know, I've already talked to her and she didn't give me a look like that."  
  
"She humored you, to be nice," Heero said after he finished his drink.  
  
"If you haven't noticed this is a conversation between Trowa and I," Duo said not pleased with Heero's remark, "Well, you don't have to worry about getting a girl since you have Relena."  
  
Heero looked at Duo a moment before turning back to his work, "Just because you can't get a girl doesn't mean you can take it out on me."  
  
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Duo looked at him a second before deciding to shrug it off. "So, Trowa, you like her? Come on, I saw the way you were looking at her."  
  
Trowa put down his drink, "If you haven't noticed we have work to do."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"So, you really are in love with he aren't you, Shimi. Can you believe he didn't want to hurt your feelings? So, you lose your will to fight." He takes hold of her neck, and she does nothing to stop him as he squeezes. The tears flow faster down her face.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~ Trowa turned sharply as the sound of someone behind. A familiar looking brunette stared shyly at him holding a towel.  
  
"I um. thought you might need an extra towel for your hair since I used up all the extra towels in here." She looked at her feet. "I didn't think you'd get done so soon."  
  
He took the towel and said thank you after spiting in the sink. Trowa assumed she must have seen him come out of the shower. Trowa rinsed out his brush and put it back in its case. He turned back around to see Shimi still standing there. Her eyes fixated on him for a moment before looking away. "You can go now, Shimi."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Embarrassed she dashed out the bathroom.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
".Trowa." Shimi manages to choke out. The tears start to wash Trowa's bloodstained hands from their earlier fight. He ignores a steady growing pain in him.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"You can work with me, Shimi." Trowa said speaking for the first time all day.  
  
"Really Trowa?" She smiled seeing that he meant it. "He picked me! AHH!" She jumped for joy screaming and ran over to Duo. Grabbing his hands she twirled around the room with him. Niko joined in, but Daga kept her distance all the while finding it hilarious.  
  
"Why did you pick her, anyway?" Heero asked watching the three do another round around the room. "I wouldn't have minded."  
  
"I think I can get some more information out of her without her getting suspicious." Heero glanced at Trowa a moment before turning back to the ruckus on the other side of the room. "Is that the only reason?"  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Trowa's squeezing stops remembering Heero's words then shakes his head knocking it away. Why do I care if he loves her or not? All she did was cling to him like a lost puppy, pretty pathetic.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Trowa set up the chess board. Wufei sat at the end of the couch reading. Shimi entered the room carrying a picnic basket. Seeing Trowa she raced over.  
  
"There you are." Trowa stood up when seeing her. "I was looking all over for you." She hugged him before he could move then held the basket in front of him. "I hope you're hungry because I made lunch." Trowa took the basket and looked inside.  
  
"He doesn't want to be bothered by you, Shimi." Wufei announced flatly looking up from his book for only a moment.  
  
"Looks appetizing," Trowa said knowing Wufei's words have hurt her. "Maybe we should enjoy this in the cafeteria." Her eyes light up.  
  
"Really," She took his hand and led him out of the room.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
His grip slackens on her neck. Why are these memories coming? I shouldn't be having these memories. He stares at her his anger boiling. He pulls his hands away and covers his head trying to drown out the continual flow of memories.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"I've always wanted to be an actress." Shimi said standing. She stretched out her arms and slowly spins. Trowa listened with interest. "Or if I couldn't do that a famous spy." She giggled then stopped in front of him. "I guess you can say I've got half of what I want already." She took his hand pulling him from the wall where he was standing and casually danced with him. "What do you want to be Trowa?"  
  
"Me?  
  
"Yeah, have you ever wanted to be something? I guess being a gundam pilot there really isn't anything that'd give you a similar thrill right."  
  
"I've never considered it before."  
  
"Really." she looked at him. Her brown eyes shine lively.  
  
"I guess I'm happy just being a circus performer."  
  
"Circus performer, huh, that sounds cool, but I bet it's pretty hard sometimes."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
What's wrong? Why can't I kill her? He can't love her. Trowa looks at her confused. .could he? He feels his heart beat quicken.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Dooo you have a girlfriend, Trowa?"  
  
"." Trowa glanced at Shimi then sat up on the couch. She had brought him out of his thoughts. Something about Fox and Sophia didn't add up. For some reason, he couldn't put his finger on it. It was like someone up a blockade and he had trouble getting over it. "Hum?"  
  
"Girlfriend."  
  
"No" She moved closer to him.  
  
"Do you consider yourself a good kisser, Trowa?" He didn't know what to say. No one had ever asked him such a question in his life. He was in complete shock, but he didn't show it. Something in her eyes told him she already knew, but he didn't know how. It felt like they could read each other's thoughts by just looking at each other. There was something abnormal about her eyes. At the same time, they were extremely beautiful something he never really noticed before. Suddenly, he felt uneasy which was very new for him.  
  
"Don't you ever smile, Trowa, just a little?" Shimi changed to a relaxed sexy voice as she moves closed. "Come on, I know you can talk." He pretended to have more of an interest in what Niko and Duo were doing. Like a cat, she climbed on top of him until they were face to face. "Let's just see how good a kisser you really are, Trowa."  
  
His heart pounded faster then he had ever felt it pound before. He pushed her away as he stood up. This only makes Shimi more ravenous. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him after flattening her body on his.  
  
His eyes grow a bit in surprise then he finally managed to get lose of her grip and staggered to his feet beside the couch. Another smile formed on her face. Trowa could feel himself blushing then realized Heero had walked in on the whole thing. Shimi walked up to him and started to play with the lock of hair that draped over his both eyes from embarrassment. He took a step back onto the wall.  
  
"I knew you were a good kisser, Trowa." Her voice came out as soft as butter. She turned away from him and exited the room.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Trowa?" Shimi looks at Trowa confused as he holds his head as though going mad. Her hands now swollen she sits up watching him unmoving a bit frightened. His eyes glow green instead of red and reaches for the collar on his neck. He grits his teeth as though trying hard to fight something off.  
  
"Run, Shimi," his voice sounds as though two of him is talking at once. "I don't know how long I can control it."  
  
"No, Trowa; I'm not going to let you do this alone," she says going to him. "You picked me as your partner and we're going to get through this together." She grabs opposite ends of the collar beside his and pulls. She grits her own teeth bearing the pain of her swollen hands. This is the only way I can make up for pestering you. Trowa, I'm sorry. "This is my fault. Now I see why Fox didn't want any of you guys to get involved." He looks up at her; his eyes still blazing green, but soon loses their glow returning to normal. "If I wouldn't have picked you guys this wouldn't have happened to you."  
  
"Nice speech, Shimi. He was fortunate to catch the end of it." In the blink of an eye, he punches Shimi in the stomach. Her mouth hangs open in surprise and her eyes widen from the pain as the air escapes her lungs. An actual smile crosses Trowa's face that Shimi catches before she passes out. He drapes her over his shoulder and carries her off.  
  
******  
  
Sally's in a room refilling numerous First Aid kits with bandages, cream, etc. when the door creeks open. She looks up then goes to the door and looks out.  
  
"Hello? ... Is anyone there?" Not seeing anyone, she closes the door and goes back to her work.  
  
"Huh." she looks up and looks around. "Wufei" she looks up again and jumps when she feels an icy hand on her shoulder. A smile crosses her face when she turns and sees Wufei, but that soon changes when he grabs her roughly by the neck. Disbelief fills her eyes as her air supply is almost completely cut off. Fear grips her heart when his eyes glow a blood red and not the usual bright deep blue. She tries to speak, but nothing gives; not even the grip on her neck when she tries to loosen it. Suddenly he releases her. As she breathes, he jumps away. Something thick wraps around her and pulls her forward.  
  
"Are you ok. Dr. Poe?" Jeff asks with concern.  
  
"Yes, Jeffrey, thank you." Jeff stands in front of Sally protecting her as Wufei stares him down. She looks at Wufei again his red eyes blazing. "Wufei, snap out of it." She walks in front of Jeff."  
  
"Dr. Poe, Wait"  
  
"It's ok Jeff. I'll be fine." She slowly moves close to Wufei. He growls viciously as she gets closer. "It's ok, Wufei it's me Sally. Don't you remember me at all?" She places a hand on the side of his face and his eyes return to normal.  
  
". Sally. you, you shouldn't get to close. I don't know what I might do next," then he grabs his head in pain.  
  
"Wufei, tell me what's wrong." He slowly reaches for his neck and starts to claw at the now seen apparatus. A collar She instantly grabs hold to help, it slowly coming off.  
  
"Sally run, this is just going too slow."  
  
"No, I'm not leaving you." His eyes turn red then brings his claw back ready to strike. Her eyes grow wide as it comes at her. Jeff rips the collar off Wufei's neck and the claw stops inches from Sally. She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you once again, Jeff."  
  
"You've all been so generous to me. It was the least I could do." He says shyly.  
  
******  
  
Duo and Niko sneak into a dark room where Sophia is sleeping through the roof. They climb down as quietly as they can. Duo motions for Niko to go to be a look out for Quatre. He slowly walks to her so not to wake her. Just as he was about to touch the collar her eyes open and he freezes. Instead of attacking like he thought she was, she just looks up at him a moment. She moans in pain and stairs off at something in the room as though she didn't care about what he was going to do out of tiredness.  
  
She must be hurt pretty badly if she's just lying there and doesn't care. Concern fills his face. Or she could just be being lazy.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Wufei falls to his knees obviously hurt. A feeling of relief comes over her as she turns to her next opponent, Heero who holds his ground.  
  
"You're not done quite yet." He says in his normal inert voice and face.  
  
"Huh" as she turns around she's punched, sidekick in the face. She continues standing until she's thrown into the table by a powerful jump kick. There's a long pause as she lies there among the shattered glass of the mirror, broken wood, and her own blood.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
No. she's hurt alright, he says to himself noticing the heavy smell of blood as she turns a little on her side and seeing her blood covered hands as she pulls her pillow down. She moves the covers over her shoulder more then continues to stare. He finally reaches for the collar and tries to pull it off, but it's slippery from blood that drips from her neck. She pulls away whimpering. Fear fills the air as she cringes.  
  
"Shh. hey, hey, I'm sorry." He kneels down next to her. "I know it hurts, but we have to take it off." It's like talking to a little kid. "Let's go and get those wounds tended to then." He pulls the covers off her and jumps back in surprise at Quatre clutching her around the waist. His head rests on her breast. His eyes glow red before he releases her and leaps on Duo knocking him to the ground.  
  
"Quatre!"  
  
"Yes Duo, are you that surprised to see me? You know it's rude to sneak into other people's rooms." He says pinning him down.  
  
"I'm sorry. was I interrupting something?" Duo flips him over, but Quatre blocks a punch then throws him against the wall.  
  
"No, but don't worry I'll get my chance later." Quatre grabs Duo by the neck and slams him against the wall.  
  
"Since when do you take advantage of rabbit girls, Quatre?"  
  
"It's simple really, since I got this collar." He laughs a bit. "I thought even you would figure that out, Duo. I guess I've given your brain too much credit."  
  
"Watch what you say." Niko says putting a knife to his neck getting him to release Duo.  
  
"Thanks Niko."  
  
"No problem" An evil smirk crosses Quatre's face. "I wouldn't celebrate so soon. Sophia might be weak, but she's still quite deadly. In the blink of an eye Sophia jumps Niko.  
  
"Now, Duo, where were we?" Duo answers his question with a punch in the stomach. Quatre returns his punch by kneeing him in the stomach then kicks him to the floor. "That reminds me. I believe I remember you pushing me DUO!" Quatre kicks him again.  
  
"What happened to forgive and forget?"  
  
"That doesn't apply here!" he brings his foot down on Duo's back. Duo grabs it and trips him and then grabs the collar with both hands to try and rip it off. The two end up struggling. Quatre throws him off. "Now Die!" On impulse Duo strikes Quatre across the face. "AHH!" He holds his face in pain. Scooting up against the wall, he continues to hold his face.  
  
"Sorry about this Quatre." Duo punches him in the stomach. Quatre curls up in a ball moaning in pain. Before Duo could claw at Quatre's collar Sophia jumps in the way in her transformed state. Her face now vicious and threatening warns him if he made a move toward Quatre she'd attack him. She backs up to where Quatre is and changes back to human. She helps him up then hugs him.  
  
"I'm ok, Sophia." She gives an evil smirk then her eyes glow a bright deep blue. Without warning she plunges her claw into the collar. Sparks fly almost immediately as he rips away from her. "Why, why did you?"  
  
"You're not as smart as you think you are." She says calmly. Quatre's eyes grow wide in surprise. Anger plasters itself on his face.  
  
"You think you're smarter then I don't you?!" He grabs her by the neck, but she blocks his hands. Their hands now in death grips, they stare each other down.  
  
"You said it not me." she says in a cocky voice. Furious he pulls his hands free and slaps her across the face. She looks at him in shock holding the side of her face.  
  
"Now I definitely know you're not Quatre," Duo says grabbing his wrist before he could slap her again. He just punches Duo in the stomach then pushes Duo away from him. He eyes now stuck on the red glow of furry. He grabs her by the neck and chocks her.  
  
"Quatre, stop. I know you have stronger will power then this. Fight it!" she says without trying to save herself. "I know you can hear me."  
  
".Begging for your life. You think that fool can hear you," he says with a laugh, "You said it yourself he's weak. Even if he wanted to stop me I have complete control over his body. All he's able to do is watch as I KILL YOU!" Suddenly his grip loosens and one of his eyes loses its red glow and turns blue-green. He holds his head as though trying to fight it. Sophia immediately digs her nails into the collar and breaks it. His eyes instantly return to normal. "So, Sophia, I'm sorry I slapped you." She stands up without a word. "Sophia?"  
  
"I have more work to do," She says calmly glancing back. Quatre stands up quickly and goes to her.  
  
"You're in no condition, Sophia." She looks at him a moment then brushes him off then nudges Duo on the floor with her foot.  
  
"I knocked your friend out," Sophia says as he sits up. Quatre continues to try and stop her.  
  
"Though most of your wounds are bandaged you've still lost a lot of blood. You need your rest."  
  
"I'm going Quatre. If you want to come you can or else shut your mouth." She says annoyed and turns away.  
  
"Ok, Fox, where do you get off being mean to Quatre?"  
  
"He shouldn't even be here. He should be at a meeting with Relena Dourine, but instead he followed me. He's jeopardizing his business following me around." An ice cold stare stops Duo from making a response.  
  
As she slowly makes her way to the door Duo slowly leans over to Quatre and whispers, "What do you see in her anyway?"  
  
"She's a kind and gentle person; she's just worried about me getting hurt when I come along with her, that's all."  
  
".you see that?"  
  
"Yes, what do you see?"  
  
"Me," he looks at her a moment, "I see the girl version of Wufei who hates all men and enjoys making their life a living hell."  
  
"If you two are now done talking about me behind my back we can wake Niko anytime now." Quatre blushes a bit.  
  
"Sophia you're in worse condition then when we started you should be back in the hospital with the injuries you've received already."  
  
"I'm. just give me till after this mission."  
  
"Remember you promised me you'd take it easy." She growls remembering her promise. "So are you... going to take to take it easy?" Quatre walks up to her. "Please" he says softly.  
  
"Fine.!" then she says softly with a weak smile, "It's good to have you back Quatre."  
  
******  
  
Daga turns off the water in the shower and casually steps out. She snags the two towels on the rack and wraps her body and hair before exiting the bathroom. She turns sharply at the sound behind her. Barely moving out of the way of the bear claw she stumbles, but catches herself. The bear leaps on her bearing his fangs trying to rip out her neck. Daga grips the neck of the bear trying to fend him off. The bear's red eyes blaze as it claws at her ripping the towel around her body. No, it can't be. She thinks to herself finally recognizing the sent of the bear as Heero.  
  
"Heero. what's wrong. Why are you doing this?" All she gets is a growl of a ferocious bear. "Heeerrrroo! .Stop!" She throws him off her and barely has a chance to get to her feet before he attacks again. The towel drying her hair falls off.  
  
As she continues to fend him off, she grabs hold of something thick around his neck. What's this? She instantly pulls it off and as she does Heero stops. He slowly changes back. They stare at each other a moment in awkward silence. "You can get off me now, Heero." Heero blushes, but only for a split second and quickly gets off her. Picking up the towel on the floor, he hands it to Daga who was completely naked.  
  
******  
  
Trowa slowly opens his eyes and sits up on the bed. The overpowering smell of freshly spilled blood fills his nose. He looks around at blood covered bed and floor then sees the broken collar beside him. Feeling the back of this head, he feels a bump then stands after hearing a faint roar of a tiger. He follows it to the bathroom where there were also more traces of blood on the floor. Shimi was huddled in of the tub with her face buried in her arms. The tub's filled with water which was discolored from blood.  
  
"Shimi?" he says kneeling next to her. She flinches as he touches her shoulder and he quickly withdraws his hand. The smell of fear fills the room as she looks up. She looks at him for a long moment. Tears fill her eyes as she hugs him. She cries griping his shirt tightly, "Shimi, what's.?"  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Stop, let go of me." Shimi scrams as Trowa sits on top of her. "Trowa, fight this."  
  
"Shut up, he can't hear you anyway." He says starting to undress her.  
  
"No! Stop!" he grabs hold of her neck when she tries to stop her.  
  
"Don't make this harder then it has to be, Shimi. For that, I'm going to kill you when I'm done."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
Trowa's heart leaps remembering what he did. "Shimi. I'm." No, I can't just say sorry for what I did to her. He feels himself start to shake a bit not wanting to remember the rest. He hugs her back almost as tightly as she was to him.  
  
*******  
  
Sophia looks up at the ceiling. This is boring. I hate being forced to stay put in one spot. She looks over at Niko who finally starts to stir in the bed beside her. She sniffs the air and sits up. I better check this out.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Sophia?" She stands up and heads for the bathroom.  
  
"I'll be back." Closing the door behind her she jumps into the vent overhead feet first while using the doorknob. Changing into her fox form she scurries through the vent, her paws muffling the sound. There are two foreign scents in this building and I'm going to figure out who they belong to. If my hunch is correct they should be down here or at least one of them. She carefully removes the cover on the vent and peaks in. She had entered the kitchen. Everything looked normal until something white scurries across the floor kitchen and into the cupboard. She jumps down and then changes back. Slowly she starts searching keeping the sent in her nostrils. I smell a rabbit. Ok, little guy, now where are you. She says searching through pots and pans. "Gotcha!" Sophia says snatching up the rabbit by the ears and then says calmly, "I thought I smelled a rabbit." This is the same white rabbit girl that got Duo in trouble at the base. The rabbit girl kicks her feet frantically trying to loosen the grip on her ears. A wiz of air behind her catches her attention. She looks around the kitchen, but doesn't see anything. Suddenly an intense pain strikes her shoulder. The claw digs deep in her shoulder ripping muscle tissue to the bone. Her eyes grow wide. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her scream echoes throughout the building as she falls to the floor flinching in pain. The rabbit girl drops to the floor and runs back in the cupboard. She peeks out watching.  
  
"Ha, that was too easy. and all this talk about the great Fox. I thought I'd have more of a challenge." Sophia gets a good look at her attacker. He was in his mid twenties and well built. His eyes were silver; his hair was brown with a few stripes of black in it. He wore all black. He walks up to her and soon realized who it was. ". Damn it, I got the girl instead. I can't take her back like this." Then he notices the little rabbit girl in the cupboard. He reaches over with ease and snatches the girl up. "I can't have any witnesses now can I." Before he could kill her a claw comes out his stomach. Sophia retracts her bloodied hand.  
  
"Yes, you got the person you were looking for, but it's not wise to turn your back on your victim." She says coldly.  
  
"There's no way you should be standing unless." he manages to chock up before coughing up blood.  
  
"I hate cheap shots." Sophia watches him fall to the floor dead. She walks past the terrified rabbit girl. She walks out the door and slowly makes it down the hall. Sophia looks back and spots the rabbit girl trying to hide, but it was obvious that the rabbit girl was following her. Man. she's a terrible hider. She continues on down the hall and soon ends up leaning on the doors as she continues to lose blood. She finally stops and sits at the door she was at and tries to look at her lifeless arm. Great. now I know I have to go home to get myself a new arm. I never thought I'd need a metal arm. Well, at least it can't get any worse.  
  
She sighs and closes her eyes trying to ignore the pain. She opens her eyes to see the rabbit girl next to her watching her curiously. She closes her eyes again continuing to think. The door opens. The sent of a bear and wolf gets Sophia's attention. Sophia looks into the eyes of Daga and Heero. Before Daga could pick Sophia up the rabbit girl jumps on her head and starts pounding it.  
  
"Hey!" she avoids Daga's hands as she tries to grab her. "Ok, you." The rabbit girl rumps to the floor and starts to run around her confusing her, Heero reaches over and grabs her when she rests for a moment. "Settle down we're not going to hurt you or her," Heero says to her calmly. The rabbit girl finally stops struggling. Daga picks up Sophia and they head down the hall. 


	21. Two Foxes, the Dragon, and a Lion

Disclaimer: What I said in the last chapter. Please R&R  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 21 *Two Foxes, the Dragon, and a Lion * 5:35a.m.  
  
Quatre grazes the side of her face with his hand and she opens her eyes. Sophia turns her head to look at him and then places her left hand on his and places his hand beside her on the bed. She squeezes his hand and smiles at him weakly.  
  
"I got rid of the intruder. that's all that matters." She looks off in the distance. "You should go home now, Quatre; the mission's over and everyone's back to normal."  
  
"I want to make sure you don't do anything rash." He says with a concerned look on his face. "Why don't you listen to reason, Sophia?"  
  
"I wish you wouldn't worry about me that much, Care Bear."  
  
Wufei peeks in.  
  
"Come on in, Wufei. I'm not mad at you." He walks up to her and sits next to her.  
  
"You know you've been asleep for about a week now."  
  
"What!" She sits up in shock. "AHH!" she cringes.  
  
"Sally and Niko were able to reconnect your arm, but you can't use it until it heals completely." Wufei and Quatre make her lie down again. "You shouldn't be moving."  
  
"I thought I was only asleep for three days. not an entire week."  
  
"That's because you lost a lot of blood Sophia." Quatre explains. "You needed another blood transfusion."  
  
"Quatre, I wish you wouldn't waste your blood on me."  
  
"Don't say that Sophia, using my blood to save you isn't wasteful at all."  
  
"Sometimes I wonder how that big heart can fit in that body of yours, Quatre." She says teasingly. "And who's this girlfriend of yours, Wufei?"  
  
". Have you been spying on me?" he says annoyed and somewhat blushing.  
  
"UUUM. Maybe just a little," she says smugly.  
  
"You haven't changed."  
  
"So. how long have you two been going out?"  
  
"Why should I tell you? All you're going to do is embarrass me."  
  
"I wouldn't do that."  
  
"Wanna bet."  
  
"You two please don't argue. You two were worried about each other or you wouldn't have bothered to try and look for the other or took the liberty to know where the others whereabouts were, so please don't argue." Quatre says stopping the argument.  
  
"So she's finally awake," Sally says walking in. "And how's that arm of yours." Sophia's eyes turn blue at the sight of Sally and she closes her eyes.  
  
"I apologize for Sophia's actions, Sally," Quatre says, "She's not too fond of doctors."  
  
"That's ok, Quatre." She sits next to the bed. Sophia open's her eyes watching her closely. She growls at Sally as she tries to check her heart rate. Wufei says something angrily in Chinese and Sophia stops and stares at him.  
  
Sophia makes eye contact with him.   
  
"Wow, he must really like you if he threatened to kill me," she says to Sally with a raised eye brow.  
  
"He did what?" Sally looks at him accusingly. He just gives her an annoyed look then mumbles something under his breath then gets up and leaves. "Wufei." Sophia watches him leave. She definitely has an effect on him. Even I can't make him do that. wow. he's really in love with this woman. She looks at Sally again a moment then at the empty doorway.  
  
"Well, I'm not staying here." She says sitting up.  
  
"No, Sophia."  
  
"Quatre's right, you should stay put."  
  
"Well, I'm hungry! And I'm not so weak that I can't get my own food." Sophia says pushing past Sally. The pain in her right arm reminds her not to use it. Quatre stands in the doorway. "Move Quatre."  
  
"NO, Sophia you should be in bed and you know it."  
  
"Get out of my way, Quatre."  
  
"NO, Sophia"  
  
"Last Warning!"  
  
"You're going to have to go through me."  
  
"Fine with me!" She plows into Quatre with her good shoulder.  
  
Shimi lies down on the couch next to Trowa whose reading. The little rabbit girl sits at the end table in the center of the room with Heero and Daga on either side of her. The little rabbit girl's hands were covered in multicolored finger paint. She carefully plants hands in the center of the paper and starts to swoosh them around. She looks at the picture a moment and then shows it to Heero. Jeff watches from the wall like a gecko on the wall. Duo and Niko play video games in the corner like they always do.  
  
Just then, Quatre and Sophia come plowing in the waiting room. Quatre lands on the floor with Sophia on top of him unmoving. This gets everyone's attention. Quatre sits up. Concern fills his face upon seeing Sophia's condition.  
  
"Sophia," She responds to her name. She holds her shoulder in pain. "Sally and I told you to stay in bed." She growls at Quatre when he tries to help her.  
  
"I refuse to have anyone help me. when I can do it myself." She says through clinched teeth.  
  
"Listen to Quatre, Sophia. You know you've reached your limit." Sophia looks up at Wufei. He holds out his hand to help her up, but she stands up on her own then leaves the room. He sighs as Quatre stands up. Wufei stops him before he could follow her.  
  
"She needs to be alone right now." What's bothering you, Sophia?  
  
******  
  
Jeff watches the rabbit girl as she makes a tower out of blocks. He jumps down from the ceiling and sits in front of her. She looks up at him for a moment then looks at the last block in her hand. She walks around her tower and hands him the block.  
  
"That's ok, I'm fine just watching." She insists, but what escapes her mouth didn't sound like words, just a soft animal sound. After days of her not talking, they finally figured out she couldn't talk due to the mutation of inaccurate and sloppy splicing. "No, that's ok, Thumper." She was given the name Thumper from the movie Bambi. Seeing he still didn't want it she gives up and finishes the tower. She hops to the door as the door opens. She jumps in Heero's arm happily and hugs him. She turns and points to her tower showing it off.  
  
"It looks good. You made it yourself?" She shakes her head. "Come it's time for dinner." He takes her by the hand and they head out the door with Jeff not too far behind.  
  
******  
  
Sophia sits at the table in the cafeteria.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
"Are you done yet?" Wufei says sternly. "Or do I have to waste any more time with a pupil I clearly wasted my time training."  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
". Did you really mean what you said there.Wufei. Do you really think you wasted your time with me?" "I'd never think that as long as I live." Wufei says hugging her from behind.  
  
"You're just saying that."  
  
"No, I mean every word." She rubs the side of her face against his then smile. "And when were you going to tell me that my closest friend could have also been a pet fox."  
  
"I thought you'd freak out."  
  
"Have you ever known me to freak out?" he says messing up her hair. She laughs and sticks her tongue out at him. "You're not going to go running off again are you?"  
  
"If I say yes, I'd be lying." She stands up. She hugs him then jumps on his back. "You owe me a piggy back ride!" He just smiles as they head back to her room.  
  
******  
  
"Master Cobra, are you sure you want to go alone? I could come with you to assist." Yun asks as the three head for a private shuttle to go to earth.  
  
"No Yun, you stay here with your sister. I want to challenge this girl on my own besides when I'm done with her I'll bring her back with me." Cobra gives one last look back at his two students then climbs in the shuttle. He gives one last wave before the shuttle takes off. You went up against Amaya and Yun. now you'll have to deal with me. Fox!  
  
******  
  
Quatre closes the door behind him. I hope Sophia's better now. I know she was upset. probably she feels I'm a bother. He walks to his bunk and notices a white rose attached to a note.  
  
Dear Care Bear,  
Accept this white rose as symbol of my apology. I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you. You can stop worrying now I got it taken care of. I know you were just trying to help like you always do and I hope you can forgive me.  
  
^v^ Sophia  
  
Quatre smiles at the note. He leaves the room taking the rose with him. I'm sure she's in the hanger, he thinks to himself as he heads to the hanger.  
  
I thought for sure she'd be here. Quatre sighs as he exits ShadowScythe. A loud bang stops him before climbing down the latter to exit the hanger. Curious he heads toward it.  
  
"OW! Stupid!" Sophia trips over her own foot and plows into Quatre's arms.  
  
"Sophia. Are you ok?"  
  
Um. yeah, I'm ok." She goes back to her work, her voice calm.  
  
"I received your note, Sophia." There's a long pause. "I never was angry at you, Sophia. I'm glad that you worked it out.," He moves closer to her watching her work. "Is there any special reason why you're working on this shuttle?"  
  
"No, no reason in particular, just was board that's all."  
  
"Sophia. I've been meaning to ask you a question."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Do you remember that night we spent together?"  
  
"Yes, what about it?" she says a bit irritably. She feels a stab or guilt as she continues, "That was the night I stole my laptop back from you."  
  
"Did it mean anything to you?"  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
They looked into each other's eyes. Like two magnets they kissed. Long passionate kisses as they wrapped there arms around each other. Wulan unbuttoned his shirt as he removed his vest. He genially pushed her down on the bed then tossed his shirt on the floor.  
  
~~~~~Flash~~~~~  
  
He notices her hands start to shake causing her to stop her work. She bites her lower lip.  
  
"I don't want to remember that, Quatre."  
  
".Oh." He moves away from her. Disappointment fills his face as he backs up toward the door of the shuttle. He looks at Sophia whose back was turned to him. He turns away from her as his throat grows sore. Surprised he looks over at her again. Hope fills his heart again. "Is that it, Sophia? You feel guilty for leaving me. I've already forgiven you for that besides you shouldn't feel guilty for that."  
  
"No. it's not that. it later on."  
  
"When you sending us on that mission you mean, you shouldn't get upset over things you can't control." He walks up to her then puts his hands on her shoulders. "Is something the matter, Sophia?"  
  
"Huh, oh it's nothing. You're right." Wait a minute I didn't say that out loud.  
  
"I'm glad it was just a misunderstanding and that you, you feel the same way." He says hugging her. She feels herself blush. How did he hear.? "He only worries about you because you're so reckless at times, Sophia." He says letting go of her. There's a long pause as she looks at him. She gives a nerves laugh. He's closer then I thought.  
  
"I was just joking, Quatre. I didn't mean it." She starts to push Quatre out the door. "How about later on we have lunch or dinner or what ever meal it is at this time and we can talk about. I don't know anything you want. I just have to finish up this and I'll meat you, k."  
  
"I can help."  
  
"No that's ok I just have to screw in the panel. It shouldn't take that long." She finally pushes him out. "Go and find us a table, ok."  
  
"O. k, sure." She watches him start down the latter then she quickly heads into the shuttle. When she was done screwing on the panel she heads for the controls.  
  
"I thought you promised to have dinner with Quatre?"  
  
"I didn't promise Quatre anything." She says coldly to Wufei, her back turned to him. "And what were you spying on me?"  
  
"I just caught the last of it."  
  
"Why do you care anyway?"  
  
"Quatre's a nice guy. You're being cruel to him, that's not like you." He moves next to her as she continues to work.  
  
"Come on Wufei, if I told him I was leaving he'd try and talk me into staying."  
  
"What you mean is that he would talk you into staying am I right."  
  
"Leave me alone, Wufei."  
  
"You don't want to see him sad which will also cause you to stay just for him."  
  
"Leave me alone, ok!" she says feeling herself blush.  
  
"You really do like, Quatre; I was afraid you were leading him on."  
  
"I didn't say that and stop reading my mind."  
  
"I didn't have to read your mind." He moves over and stops her hands as they start to shake. Moving her closer to him he smiles. "It's written all over your face, Sophia. Now you want to eat dinner with Quatre or are you going to hurt him again?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't. I haven't called home uncle's going to be worried about me."  
  
". Master O's still alive?"  
  
"Yeah and not just him the others at well."  
  
"So that's why you're eager to go home."  
  
"Of course, besides I don't want you guys getting involved especially after what happened."  
  
"That's not your fault."  
  
"Then how come I don't feel that way. Wufei." She pulls away from him and goes back to what she was doing earlier.  
  
"Looks like I have no choice." Sophia moves out of the way before he could knock her out.  
  
"You know better then to brad cast your attack." She looks at him annoyed blocking a dozen punches.  
  
"You've gotten better."  
  
"Well duh." He catches her high kick and trips her. Picking her up around her middle he carries the struggling girl out. "Hey! Wufei put me down this instant. I know you hear me!"  
  
"Quit struggling or I'll drop you." He says as he starts down the latter. She grabs hold of the latter when they made it to the ground floor. "Sophia let go of the latter."  
  
"NO! YOU"RE NOT BEING FAIR, WUFEI!"  
  
"Quit acting childish and let's go."  
  
"No!" She holds tightly to the bars as he pulls her.  
  
"Sophia! Come ON!!"  
  
"I'm not going!" she says through clinched teeth. Her hands start to sweat and her grip starts to slip.  
  
"Sophia I don't have time for this!" She finally let go and then jabs him in the stomach. Wufei barely dodges a side kick in the side of the head. She plows into him like a football player. They both go down. Sophia scurries off him, but he grabs her foot. She kicks him in the face as he pulls her towards him. "Ow! Cut it out, Sophia." He pins her down. "You can go home. I just want your arm to heal first ok." She stops struggling and looks him in the eye.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, I wasn't going to just prevent you from going home." He lets go of her and sits up. She smiles at him then hugs him. "Now don't get all clingy."  
  
"Can I have a piggy back ride?"  
  
"No, you're too old for one," he says standing up.  
  
"But you gave me one before." She follows close behind him.  
  
"That was just for old time's sake." She continues to whine for a while, but stops as they got closer to the cafeteria.  
  
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I am a woman after all."  
  
"I wouldn't say that."  
  
"Hey what do you mean by that?"  
  
"You're no woman."  
  
"Oh, because I'm seventeen."  
  
"No, you're far from it."  
  
"WHAT!!!"  
  
"You heard me." Angrily she jumps on his back as they enter the cafeteria. The seven pilots and Thumper look over at the two making a ruckus.  
  
"I'LL GIVE YOU FAR FROM IT!!!!!"  
  
"Sophia. what are you.?! OW! Don't pull my hair!"  
  
"I can pull it if I damn want to!!!! PANDA!! PANDA!!! PANDA!!!!" He blushes at the sound of his nickname making him furious.  
  
"That's it!!!!" He twists her nose with two fingers.  
  
"Ow WOW, WOW, WOW!!!!!!!!!! Not the nose!!!!!!!"  
  
"Then get off my back, already!!!!!"  
  
"Ok, we'll let go at the same time on the count of three. One two three." They both release each other.  
  
"Now!"  
  
"Ok, ok I'm getting off." After getting off, she trips him. She laughs at him at a safe distance.  
  
"Um, are you sure she has know Wufei longer then we do?" Duo asks leaning over to Shimi.  
  
"Of course, silly, they grew up together. This is normal."  
  
"Um. ok whatever you say." Everyone's speechless as Sophia plants a slice of cake in Wufei's face.  
  
"You're a jerk, Wufei!!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"FINE THEN!!" he says as he plants her face in some mash potatoes. "If all I'm going to be is a jerk to you then I might as well have fun with it."  
  
"I wonder who's going to win this one." Shimi says excitedly as the two's food fight turns into a hand lock struggle.  
  
******  
  
"Trowa." Trowa slowly opens his eyes at the sound of his name. "Trowa." He sits up and looks around, but he's alone in the waiting room. The voice comes as a whisper through the door.  
  
"Shimi, is that you?" he asks as he opens the door. He looks down an empty darkened hallway.  
  
"Trowa." The hallway itself seemed to get darker as he starts down it. "Trowa!" The voice continues to call his name getting more and more urgent turning his walk into a run. His heart races knowing the voice is Shimi's. He burst through the door at the end of the hall. Trowa sees a guy on top of Shimi who was trying desperately to get him off her. He races over and tackles the guy to the floor. Before he could punch him, Trowa gets a good look at himself.  
  
"Surprised Trowa?" Trowa wakes up in a cold sweat as his red glowing eyed reflection starts to laugh. He sits on the edge of the bunk bed letting his feet dangle over the side. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for what I did.  
  
"Something bothering you, Trowa?" He looks over at Heero on the bottom bunk bed beside him. "How do you apologize to a girl for taking something special that can't be given back?" Trowa jumps down from the bunk.  
  
"I never thought I'd see the day that I'd see a gundam pilot running away from anything." Trowa turns and sees two blue eyes in the shadows. Sophia emerges from the shadow of the building. "It will be easier for her if I'm not around."  
  
"You mean Shimi. I'm afraid you're wrong, Trowa. She'll feel abandoned if you leave." There's a long pause. "She really does love you as much as you love her." Her eyes blaze blue as she turns away from him. "If it was up to me I'd be glad that you're leaving, but it's not about me it's about Shimi." She says as she walks off disappearing in the darkness. 


	22. Finding Home Base

Disclaimer: I put off the story for a while because no one's reading, and if you are you're not reviewing. Someone please review to let me know you're reading my story at least.  
  
Gundam Wing Episode 22 Finding Home Base 5:55a.m.  
  
Slowly and steadily Sophia makes her way through the vent. This should be the right spot, I'm sure of it. She carefully opens the vent and looks down pray. Well, it's now or never. Here goes. She carefully slides out of the vent on to the top bunk with a giant gun as he begins to stir. His eyes grow wide when seeing the gun in her hands.  
  
"RISE AND SHINE!!!" She yells as she sprays him with buckets of water drenching him.  
  
"Ah!" Wufei looks at her fury rising in his face as Sophia leaps on to the next top bunk bed waking Duo.  
  
"Hey!!"  
  
"THAT'S IT YOU'RE DEAD!!!" Wufei screams starting to get out of bed waking some of the others in the room. She gives an evil smirk as she leaps to the next bunk waking Quatre.  
  
"Good morning, Quatre; how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," He says a bit confused until she dodges a pillow thrown by Wufei angrily. "I see you're causing mischief again."  
  
"Just having some fun, Quatre, nothing too serious."  
  
"I've had enough of your little pranks!!" Wufei yells his eye furious with blue as he climbs Quatre's top bunk to get her.  
  
"Uh oh," she leaps away before he could grab her and runs around the room with Wufei chasing close behind.  
  
"Just another morning with those two fighting, nice way to start the day," Duo says getting up as the two run out of the room.  
  
Sophia enters her room. Shimi lies on the bottom bunk staring at the bottom of the top bunk obviously in thought. Man is she still there? Annoyed she goes to the mirror and looks at wet self. Though I was faster he still got me. She starts to change her clothes as Shimi shifts back and forth on the bunk.  
  
"Sophia, where do you think Trowa's gone?"  
  
"I'm not sure. He probably just went off by himself to think for a while." Sophia looks at her partner as she looks across at her from the bed. She curls up into a ball like a cat and her focus changes to the wall. Or at least I hope so. I never thought I'd be wishing for a pilot to return. "UUH! Quit moping Shimi. He's most likely getting you something."  
  
"Do you think he likes me?" she asks her eyes light up like a little child trying ice cream for the first time.  
  
"I don't know. You had to pick one of the not normal ones."  
  
"I don't know about you, but Wufei is not normal."  
  
"Will you leave him alone, geeze, the guy lost his mother and his wife. What would you expect?"  
  
"Trowa's normal. He just doesn't show felling like the others, so there."  
  
"Don't jump down my throat about it. If I knew you were going to be that way I wouldn't have said anything. He's only been gone for three days. I'm sure he hasn't left the colony.  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"Because the circus is in the colony and that's where he works."  
  
"REALLY!!!" She jumps up surprising Sophia and dashes out the room.  
  
"OK... at least she stopped moaning." I can't believe she's boy crazy again. After putting on some new clothes she turns and leaves the room. I've been getting bad feelings lately. I'm definitely leaving soon.  
  
"Welcome to planet earth. Hope you enjoy your stay." A large group of people empty the shuttle and disperse going their separate ways. A man in a suit exit's last. He looks around at the others as they either meet up with family or just leave. He reaches in his pocket and puts on shades to cover his hypnotic red eyes. He then takes out a silver ball out of his suit pocket. Now Sophia, where are you?  
  
Let's see... Sophia looks at the weights deciding which one to use. She grabs a twenty pound one, but it she couldn't lift it. She tries with her left hand. It was still hard to lift, but she was able to life it.  
  
Flash  
  
There are two foreign scents in this building and I'm going to figure out who they belong to. If my hunch is correct they should be down here or at least one of them. She carefully removed the cover on the vent and peaked in. She had entered the kitchen. Everything looked normal until something white scurried across the kitchen floor and into the cupboard. She jumped down and then changed back. Slowly she started searching keeping the sent in her nostrils. I smell a rabbit. Ok, little guy, now where are you. She said as she searched through pots and pans. "Gotcha!" Sophia said snatching up the rabbit by the ears and then said calmly, "I thought I smelled a rabbit."  
  
Flash  
  
I can't believe I got distracted.  
  
Flash  
  
A wiz of air behind her catches her attention. She looked around the kitchen, but doesn't see anything. Suddenly an intense pain strikes her shoulder. The claw dug deep in her shoulder ripping muscle tissue to the bone. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Her scream echoed throughout the building. She fell to the floor flinching in pain. The rabbit girl drops to the floor and runs back in the cupboard. She peeked out.  
  
"Ha, that was too easy... and all this talk about the great Fox. I thought I'd have more of a challenge." He walked up to her and soon realized who it was. "... Damn it, I got the girl instead. I can't take her back like this." Then he noticed the little rabbit girl in the cupboard. He reached over with ease and snatches the girl up. "I can't have any witnesses now can I." Before he could kill her a claw came out his stomach. Sophia retracted her bloodied hand.  
  
"I hate cheap shots." Sophia watched him fall to the floor dead.  
  
Flash  
  
Why didn't I sense him? I would have normally.  
  
Flash  
  
She continued on down the hall and soon ended up leaning on the doors as she continues to lose blood. She finally stopped and sat at the door she was at and tried to look at her lifeless arm.  
  
Flash  
  
She gazes at her blood stained hand. Her right hand suddenly the blood disappears, her hand now clean. She makes a fist with her hand angrily. There has to be a logical explanation, but what?  
  
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!!!!!!!!? DAMN IT!!!!!!!" Furiously with her hand she knocks over all her weights on the stand. What am I doing? I throwing a tantrum like a little kid. I never used to do that. Why start now? She sinks to the floor and looks at the weights on the floor a moment before deciding to pick them up. Sophia stands up placing the last weight on the stand with the last strength she had. That's my workout for the day. She turns running into Quatre. "Oh, it's you."  
  
"Are you ok, Sophia?" he says with concern in his eyes.  
  
"I'll get over it." It's just going to take a while to get my right hand strong again. Well at least this way I can get both hands equal in strength. She moves away from Quatre still thinking as she exits the weight room. Quatre follows concerned.  
  
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"  
  
"I'm fine, just a little frustrated about my hand that's all," she says to get him off her back, but somehow having him expressing his concern eased much of her frustration.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Trowa?" Catherine asks as Trowa glances behind him. She noticed he seemed to be lost in thought lately and expecting to see someone.  
  
"No, there's nothing wrong," he says then turns to face her. A sudden sound makes him turn sharply. Two glowing yellow show before the lion comes into view walking calmly to Trowa. He kneels down and pets the lion on the head confused. "And who let you out?"  
  
"I did," says a familiar voice rang out that actually made him jump. "She said she knew where you were." Shimi now stands next to the lion staring down at a most uneasy looking Trowa.  
  
"How did-" "Sophia told me where you were. Trowa, you know better then to leave."  
  
"Excuse me, but you aren't allowed backstage," Catherine says upon seeing Trowa's condition.  
  
"Oh... I'm sorry, but Trowa really can't stay because he's not done with his training yet."  
  
"Training? What training?" alarm in her voice as she looks at him.  
  
"I can handle it," he quickly says ignoring Catherine's question. "I'm not needed." He passes her after standing and continues walking backstage followed by the others.  
  
"That may be so, but I can't I can't leave you alone. I'm sure you can't handle or control your changes.  
  
"That is if I have any more."  
  
"Oh, believe me you'll have more and my job is to make sure you don't go on a rampage killing people." They stop at the lion's cage with a pause before she speaks again only her manner was childish as she usually presented herself. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" After a moment's hesitation, he finally introduces them, "You left because of me, didn't you... I'm sorry."  
  
"It's not your fault."  
  
"And it's not your fault either, so quit pouting and get over it!" she says sternly. "If I can get over it you sure can." There's a momentary pause.  
  
"What changes are you two talking about?"  
  
"Oh, you're still here... well, it's up to Trowa to tell you or not. It's not my place to tell."  
  
"What are you two doing back here?!" The sudden new voice made everyone jump. "Who let the lion out? You know there are no people allowed backstage!" but upon seeing Shimi he became dead silent. Shimi's eyes light up when she sees him and closes in for a hug clear the two knew each other. "How did you get in here?" His voice cold as he stopped the incoming hug by pushing her head away from him when she got too close. "I want to have my back in one piece." He turns and leaves without another word. Shimi cheerfully follows him with equal silence.  
  
Shimi's right, but I still can't shake off the feeling that I could have done- something. Trowa had no trouble returning the lion to its cage.  
  
"Trowa, what's wrong?" Catherine looks at him suspiciously. "I've never seen you, so uneasy before or for that matter at all."  
  
"I'm not used to being followed," there's another pause.  
  
"If you find her a nuisance why don't you just tell her, Trowa?"  
  
"I don't think of her that way at all," she watches confused a moment as he gets up and leaves.  
  
"Must she follow me everywhere?" he whispers to himself returning to his work as she planted herself next to him. She watches him work in silence. "What do you want?" he finally managed to say.  
  
"Why won't you look at me?"  
  
"Because I'm busy," he says dryly.  
  
"Then why don't you acknowledge me?" There's a long pause before she continued. "Are you ashamed of me?"  
  
"No, nothing like that," he keeps working as he continues changing the subject. "I don't see your little friend with you. I'm sure she's still in charge."  
  
"Yes, but very emotionless now... you see she's lost so many people close to her I'm afraid she's pushing people away. I fear she's fallen in love; and because she's pushing people away, I can't figure out who it is."  
  
"How can you tell?"  
  
"Just something in her eyes that says she's hiding a deep secret from me that's all.  
  
"I'm surprised she's not with you."  
  
"She's already been here already. She said she asked for a ride, but you refused.  
  
But that was Fox... so that little brat was Sophia. Just as he finished his thought as sudden mini explosion behind his right ear startles both him and Shimi. "What was that?" she asked moving closer seeing him wobble some. His instant collapse frightened her. She shakes him; getting no response she shakes him again. "Come on wake up... what's wrong with you?" As she continued the more frighten she got. "Daddy come on... please wake up." Tears begin to swell like a wet washcloth, but they soon turned to relief when he finally opened his eyes looking straight up at her.  
  
"You look more and more like your mother everyday...... but you sure the hell don't act like her."  
  
"Thanks, I needed that."  
  
"I'm here because of Trowa. His friends and him got into some trouble on one of Fox's test missions and now they're all splicers. I feel it's my duty to make sure they can handle it," she sits up.  
  
"In other words the mission had gone wrong, teacher's pet ran away, and you feel guilty." There's a long pause.  
  
"Yeah," she sinks back in her chair.  
  
"So, how long is this attraction to Trowa's going to last?"  
  
"It's not an attraction its real love this time. I know for sure this time."  
  
"Uuh... huh,"  
  
"You're just mad because mom called you irresponsible and foolish... and I'm not going to be like you and change myself because of what the person I loved said. Now, you're just a grumpy old man."  
  
"I was irresponsible and foolish because I acted exactly how you are acting now believe it or not... and that's why-"  
  
"You can read me like a book."  
  
"Exactly ...and I am not a grumpy old man."  
  
"I screwed up, now they're all spicers, daddy, and I feel just awful thought they're all taking it well."  
  
"Guys like that don't let stuff like that keep them down." He turns his chair around to reach on the shelf behind him. Taking a book off the shelf, he opens it. "They aren't exactly splicers since they were given the ability recently." Interested, Shimi moves forward. "They're what you'd call-" turning to another page showed the hollow center that contained chocolates. Taking two each he closes the book and puts it back on the shelf. "You'll be sleeping in my trailer away from Trowa, but close enough to watch him."  
  
"Huh, why can't I sleep in the same trailer as Trowa? He's trustworthy."  
  
"Oh, I trust Trowa; it's you I don't trust, drive the poor boy crazy like I did your mother."  
  
"Why did you stop being a doctor and become a circus manager?"  
  
"I was both actually."  
  
"But how? They're both demanding jobs."  
  
"It's not that hard when this circus was one of our headquarters we used. You don't remember do you... well, you were only three."  
  
This should be enough. Sophia finishes packing her things. She pokes her head out into the hallway. Good, no one's there. Shimi's still gone, so I don't have to worry about her ratting me out. Now, time to escape the facility. She dashes down the hall with her suitcase. Quatre exits the room after getting a glimpse of Sophia as she hurries down the hall. He curiously follows her undetected. He follows her until she finally stops at one of the small private shuttles meant for two passengers. Leaving the door open she dumps her suit case in the seat next to her and then heads for the controls.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be at home working? What're your men going to think when you're always running off after a girl, Quatre?" she says calmly with a hint of teasing in her voice.  
  
"I guess I have been gone a while, but I want to make sure you're doing well."  
  
"I'm fine." She turns to him a moment then goes back to what she was doing. "It's too dangerous to be around me for long." Her voice comes out soft. Turning to face him, Quatre's face is full of acceptance for what she said. Going to him she starts to push him out the door. "Go home, Quatre."  
  
"Sophia, I can't just let you do this alone... not by yourself. You don't have to."  
  
"Quatre, I don't want anyone else to get involved in this."  
  
"But, it's too late for that." he says calmly.  
  
"Damn you! Will you just go home!!" she pulls her hands free and glares at him angrily. She now starts pushing him out of the door.  
  
"Sophia, I'm not leaving." He says holding his ground.  
  
That's it!!!!!!! This guys getting on my nerves. She angrily plows into him pushing him out. "You shouldn't be here!" Her voice a bit tired. He turns around as she starts to close, but he stops the door.  
  
"Sophia don't ... you know we can help you. Why won't you let us?" he ashes starting to get as upper hand on the door.  
  
"You... you don't understand," the door flies open.  
  
"You can tell me," he touches the side of her face. She takes a few steps back knowing the longer his hand stayed on her face meant she was going to blush. She didn't want that. Her eyes are now sad and distant. Like a flash, she dashes forward strangely pushing Quatre against the wall instead of the door. She clinches her teeth. Her body jerks ahead as her eye grow wide. She falls to her knees. Quatre races to her side. He sees the gash in her back as it glitters with blood. She reaches for her shoulder. With the other hand, she grabs something in midair just before it pierces his neck. It seemed to float in midair.  
  
"... No Jeff, we don't harm our allies," pain fills her voice. Jeff discards his chemophage appearing on the wall as the door closes behind them.  
  
"...I'm... I'm sorry... I thought-"  
  
"Like I said, we don't harm our allies," her voice is harsh, but her voice soon loses its harsh nature. "It's ok; just as you would treat your sister is how I want you to treat your allies."  
  
"Yes, yes ma'am," he stays put on the wall afraid to move.  
  
"Everyone makes mistakes," she says kindly, "No one's going to hurt you. We have enough enemies that will do that for you." Suddenly the ship jerks forward sending Sophia and Quatre fling into the wall. "AAHHHH!!" she lands on her back.  
  
"Sophia, are you ok?" She's still weak from the operation. As he picks her up, his hands get smothered with her blood. He places her down a moment. Quickly taking off his shirt, he immediately applies pressure on her back. It won't stop bleeding.  
  
"Is she going to be ok?" Jeff asks concerned seeing Quatre's shirt almost completely drenched.  
  
"I need something to stop the bleeding," Quatre picks her up and carefully places her in one of the seats.  
  
"Here," Jeff hands Quatre his shirt which worked to stop the bleeding giving the two relief.  
  
"She needs to rest," Quatre straps her in.  
  
"You can take the other seat... I can stand since I'm part gecko; I can stick to the walls. I'll be fine standing during reentry."  
  
"Thank you." Quatre looks down at Sophia once more as he buckles his seatbelt. You don't have to do this alone. What do I have to do to make you see that Sophia?  
  
"Hi Trowa!" he looks up at an overjoyed Shimi. She plows into him giving him a hug. "I've missed you soo much." She picks up a shovel to assist him, but continues to talk. "You know you shouldn't have left before I knew how well you could control your transformations."  
  
"I'm fine, Shimi... I'm just about finished her. How about you go wait somewhere else?"  
  
"Oh... ok," Putting down the shovel a look of disappointment crosses her face sending Trowa a stab of guilt as he watched her leave. He noticed how easily it was to hurt her feelings. I'll talk to her later.  
  
"You like her, don't you?" Catherine asks as he quickly diverted his gaze from Shimi. "Trowa, you're hiding something." She says teasingly noticing he was blushing. He continues to work trying to ignore her, but he couldn't hide the fact that he was blushing. Looking up, he notices Catherine was still watching him. He then caught a glimpse of Shimi watching them talking her eyes curious. He sighs.  
  
"Excuse me, Cathy," he says going in Shimi's direction. She dashes behind the nearest trailer when she saw him advancing towards her. Removing his gloves, he washes his hands. The water mixes with the sand and dirt making mud. A familiar sent fills his nostrils as he turns to face her; Shimi sat staring down at him like a tiger about to pounce.  
  
"You left because of me, didn't you?"  
  
"I couldn't control myself," he says turning away from her. Guilt starts to overwhelm him again, but Shimi brings him out of it.  
  
"Exactly, so why do you keep blaming yourself?" She stands up her eyes blazing with anger. Going to the edge, she trips. On impulse, Trowa dives for her. She looks stunned before she kisses him on the lips. He drops her instantly. "Damn it, Trowa!! Why are you so afraid to show any affection towards me!!" She knocks him to the ground. "Are you afraid of me because I'm stronger then you?! Is that it?" She lunges at him. "Talk to me, Trowa!!! Why won't you talk to me?" he grabs her wrists when she starts to hit him. Wrestling a bit on the ground he pins her in place their clothes plastered with mud. When she couldn't move, the smell of fear fills the air. "Trowa... let go, please."  
  
"The one who's stronger isn't the problem," his voice calm as he talks. He then releases her. She sits up slowly a bit shaken. She surprised him with a punch in the face. Recovering quickly he blocks more of her punches.  
  
"Why?!! Why did you leave?" she screamed furiously when he stopped the assault by hugging her trapping her arms. Her eyes fill with tears as she starts to cry buckets. "Why did you leave me all alone to face that nightmare over and over by myself?" She stops struggling and cries in his arms gripping his muddy shirt. He holds her tighter feeling guiltier then before.  
  
"I won't leave you alone again, I promise." Her whole body goes limp in her arms as he kisses her.  
  
"I'm sorry for hitting you, Trowa," Shimi hands him an ice pack for his eye.  
  
"It's ok, Shimi." He takes the ice pack. But notices she looks uneasy about his answer. "I'm not mad at you, Shimi."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes," there's a long pause before she changes the subject.  
  
"Now... how am I going to get you guys to home base to train you guys? Sophia's birthday is coming up and I got to get her something."  
  
"How about a surprise birthday party? You can kill two birds with one stone."  
  
"... That's a good idea, thanks, Trowa." 


	23. Family Ties

Disclaimer: Nobodies reviewing!! But that's not going to keep me down... I'll wait till the stories done to sulk. Tell me what you like!!! PLEASE... PLEASE!!!! Read & Review

Gundam Wing Episode 23

Family Ties

9:55a.m.

The silence of the hanger echoes everything that hit the floor especially footsteps. Duo drops the cloth forgetting there wasn't any gravity. He puts it in the bucket after surveying his work**_. Not bad. Who would have thought you could get so dirty after a few flights in outer space. _**

"Nice work," he looks up to see Niko hovering overhead. He smiles at her and saying hello he opens the cockpit. Going inside, turns it on as well as smelling the sandwiches Niko had in her hand. After guessing what was in both sandwiches, he turns on the suit. The sticky, black tar like substance slowly slides down over him tightly sticking to every crevice of his body. "Your nose is getting sharper." She hands him the ham and turkey sandwich. Watching him eat, she sighs. "They still haven't found Quatre yet." He looks up. Sighing he sits thinking a moment.

"This might be a hunch, but it's possible he's with Sophia because Jeff's missing too."

"You could be right."

"That's what I'm hoping."

"If there was only a way to contact her..." Looking at the suit she continues, "To... make sure... wait a minute." Duo looks up from the different screens. "We can contact her using this suit."

"Better yet let's use this baby's homing device."

"Good idea. I'll follow you." Duo watches her leave going into her respective gundam. Turning on Shadowscythe's homing device, he leaves the hanger. As planed, Niko follows Duo. This leads them into dark space on a course to the beautiful mother earth.

**_Why is it that I always end up getting hurt?_** Sophia opens her eyes. She soon realizes she's in her room and in her pajamas. **_Who changed my-?_** Looking around she spots Quatre. She sits up after watching him a while. **_What is he up to? _**Moving to the edge of the bed, she could see Rashid on the video phone. She leaps off the bed only to be caught in midair.

"What are you-" she struggles, "Get away from there!!! NO CALLS TO THE OUTSIDE!!!!" Quatre looks up startled.

"Don't listen to her Quatre finish your conversation," Dr. J says then turns to Sophia, "Since when have you gotten so rude."

"I'm wondering the same thing myself," Master O says still holding her.

"He's not your prisoner, you know." She stares at Professor G annoyed finally getting out of O's grip.

"You don't understand! Do you know how many people can trace that call!? I don't need that!!" She was about to get up when a pain shot through her body. She lies down only to have it return again in her back.

"I told him," O says. She sighs annoyed. "And, I believe, you two need to talk."

"Huh?" she looks at Quatre confused.

"Why did you start making Gundams, Sophia? You know they're not needed since the fight war with Mariemaia." Sophia doesn't look at him directly. She knew he was right, but there was another reason why she had them there; she didn't want to release that information quite yet.

"I have my reasons for doing things." Her voice wasn't cold when she talked. It seemed sad in a way. "I don't need a lecture from you right now." He watches her closely a moment before she looked away. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a few hours," she turns over surprised at what he had told her. **_Something's not right. I trained myself to stay asleep until my wounds healed completely if I ever get seriously wounded. That doesn't make any sense. _**"Is there a problem?"

"Huh? ... Something just doesn't add up, that's all." **_And I still don't know why I'm being nice to that weakling for. I must just be tired. I didn't have a lot of rest the last time I was here._** "Let's talk later ok. There are too many people in the room right now." She looks at the five scientists. Pulling the covers over her shoulders she closes her eyes. **_I'm just tired that's all... just tired._**

"**_Why are you being so stubborn?" _**

_**Huh... who said that? Quatre? ...**_

"**_What are you afraid of?" he whispers softly._**

_**I don't want what happened to them to happen to anyone else. There was the new group of six that joined. Li was one of them. There was only one that couldn't handle the training, Shawn. The rest, I guess Li plucked them off one by one. Brandi was found drowned in the pool. Somehow the safety cover over the pool was activated while she was swimming. Sadie was cooking when she got an electrical shock. Sun was crushed by his own gundam when his new system went hay wire and crushed him and wounded David. He however never woke up from his comma. What really hit home was when my father and Shimi's mother were set up. **_

Flash

"Sophia, I want you to stay here while we go up."

"Yes father. I'll wait for you to return." Sophia looks into his eyes and smiles.

"Come Maverick, it's time to go," says a brunette with the eyes of a confident thief. Maverick gives Sophia a kiss on the cheek before leaving. She watches her father go up with the woman and Li. Li turns to look at her, but there was something evil in his eyes that made her shiver. She didn't wait very long before she knew something was wrong.

"Why do I smell blood?" before she could move something fell from one of the windows of the building. It hit a driving car making it to swerve to a stop. Her heart beat quickened. Her feet having a mind of there own make it to where the group had gathered. She pushed through the crowd. Her heart stopped when her eyes rested on her father. "Daddy"

She fell to her knees beside him. Sophia took his hand while she cried. Two hands rest on her shoulders. Li was trying to comfort her. He pulled her hands from her father and hugged her. "I'm sorry Sophia. It's my fault. Your father, he protected me and..." Her crying drowned out the rest of his words.

Flash

_**Shimi's mother was found slaughtered ruthlessly like a dog. After that Shimi's father quit saying a little kid couldn't handle being leader for such an advanced group of people. He meant me. He was right. I couldn't handle it. I guess he blamed me for her death unlike Shimi; she's always had faith in me. Shimi's uncle was on our group for a while, but he had to go back because he had a family. They were all leaders of there own group of men. They were also entrusted in my care. I sent them off to different areas around the world and colonies. I think that's the only logical thing that I ever did. **_

Flash

The sound of shattering glass makes a young Sophia shake. She quickly picks up what she could and then tosses it in a nearby trash bin. She could feel the eyes of her father watching her annoyed.

"Sophia," she looks up, "What am I going to do with you." She scurries away; he laughs, "My little clumsy Fox."

"And you're just going to let her get away with breaking that." He turns to see his new wife.

"It's nothing too serious." He starts cleaning up the rest. "It was just a vase. She was more scared then anything besides it's just a phase." She gives him a hard stare a moment.

"Honestly, Maverick you spoil that girl."

"What ever you say, Mooshi."

Flash

**_He was always kind and understanding. If he wouldn't have died I probably would have turned out different, but life can be harsh... very harsh._**

Flash

"I wish you were still here daddy. She hurts me when I make mistakes or when I'm happy." Sophia puts down the picture of her father and leaves the room. **_It's not like when you hit me daddy. When she hits..._** She stands on a stool and starts to do the dishes. **_She doesn't stop._**

"Sophia I'm going to the market to get some groceries for the house ok."

"Ok," she watches her stepsister leave. At least she's nice to me.

"You're dripping water on the floor, Sophia." She quickly gets down. Placing the plate on the stool she gets the mop. After mopping it up, Mooshi comes in. She says bye to her other daughter as Sophia watches her leave.

"What are you staring at? Get back to work!! And wipe that smile off your face!!" Taking the plate off the stool she climbs back on. She slips on the water left by the plate. The plate shatters on the floor. "You clumsy idiot!" she screams. Taking a metal whip out of your pocket, Sophia freezes. The whip comes down digging into the raw flesh of her back. Over and over it comes down pain shoots through her entire body. Blood splatters everywhere. She knows better then to cry. It only made it longer. She finally stops. "Now get back to work you lazy animal!!!"

Flash

**_I can still feel the whip on my back... as it digs into my back. She stops only when she sees muscle._** Suddenly pain shoots through her back. Fear clutches her. She looks up. She sees the whip high in the air ready to strike. She tries to move away, but it was no use fear kept her legs from moving. The whip comes down.

"AAHHH!!!" She struggles to get off her stomach, but something is holding her in place. Pain continues to shot through her back. **_This shouldn't be happening anymore... she died when the L5 Colony 0200 blew up._** The pain continued, however. She tried not to, but her tears she tried to hold back started to soak her pillow. She can feel her blood drip down the sides of her back. **_Why... Why is this happening? _**Finally able to move, she sits up Trowa, Shimi, Wufei, and Sina were all staring at her. "How did you guys get here...? Shiimii!"

"It was Quatre who called us, not Shimi."

"What did you do to me?" she asks seeing the blood on her sheets and her sides. **_Quatre's going to pay for this. Friendly or not!_**

"You need to rest Sophia," she ignores Wufei's words and looks at Sina.

"I brought you and your family here to hide out safely," she says sternly, "not to do experiments on me while I'm asleep."

"Sophia, that's not why I'm-"

"Please, Sina, just leave."

"But you need stitches."

"The skin on your back around where Jeff hit you wasn't healing. In fact, it was all dead skin that had to be removed. That's why she's here." Wufei holds her by the shoulders. "Your uncle gave permission since he knows how stubborn you are. We're all worried about you."

"Well I don't need your sympathy." She says not looking at him. Staring at Trowa, she says, "I don't need or want your help. You can tell Quatre that for me." How many people have seen my back Wufei. 

Calm down and let her do what she has to do. She lies back down on her stomach.

"Stitch up my back and then get out. Everyone else can leave." Trowa and Shimi reluctantly apply to Sophia's whishes. Sina starts stitching up her back. **_Something's not right here. I know because my back would be healed by now. _**It seems like hours before Sina finally finishes. Sitting up she says, "You can go back to your brother and two cousins on the _second floor_." Sina takes one last look before leaving. "You know I don't like strangers working on me especially not my back. You know that." Getting up from the bed, the pain continues to haunt her as she heads for the bathroom. She gives Wufei an annoyed look then takes out the bandages out of the drawer. Handing them to her she starts to bandage her own back. Without a word, he starts to help her. "I don't need your help, Wufei," she says angrily.

"Don't be stubborn." He ignores her and continues to help. Her eyes flicker a familiar color. To his surprise, she strikes out at him her eyes now the beep bright blue from before. He moves away form her more startled then hurt. Surprised by her own actions she turns away from him afraid to face him. She knew something was wrong with her, but she wanted to figure it out for herself.

"Wufei, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Fine, do it on your own then." He turns walking away. Sophia runs after him. She grabs his hand, but he pulls away and then says coldly, "I don't associate with vicious animals." She stands frozen as he slams the door behind him. She slowly goes back to the bathroom to finish bandaging her back by herself but she burst into tears before she could finish.

A king sized bed resides in a candle lit room. The sound of movement is heard under the thick sheets of the bed. A knock on the door stops their fun. The two lift their heads out of the covers. The man presses a button on the side of the bed.

"Come in," a man with a tray walks in. The tray holds two glasses, a small box, and a bottle of sampan.

"Everything as you ordered, Mr. Lowe."

"Thank you. You may go," after pouring the sampan, he leaves. Mr. Lowe takes both glasses off the tray and hands one to his partner. "It seems no matter where we go, we go well together."

"Everything's just perfect."

"I'd have to disagree on that."

"Oh, what do you mean?" She asks as he picks up the small box off the tray. "You're not still upset over the pilots's failure, are you?"

"No not that... but there is one thing that would make it perfect." Opening the box, he sits up in bed. He shows her the ring inside. "Will you marry me, Mooshi Lan?" Her face lights up as he places it on her finger.

"Of course I will... but I want this marriage to be kept secret. I know a few people who would have a problem with it."

"What ever it takes," He says. The two knock glasses.

"Is there a problem, Sophia?" Niko asks seeing her sad eyes.

"No, I'm fine..." a stern look from Niko brings out the truth. "Ok, then maybe just one, but I haven't figured out what's wrong with me." Niko looks surprised at her words, "that's the problem. I'm the problem."

"Why don't you talk to your brother about it?"

"I don't have a brother," Sophia says.

"...I know Wufei and you had a fight, but that's no reason to not acknowledge him as your brother."

"Huh? Wufei and I are not related," she looks at Niko a bit strangely, "I'm an only child."

"But that's not what the blood work says." She hands Sophia the blood work. "Sina was making sure no one had any serious illnesses."

"She took blood from everyone right?"

"Yes"

"Theeen did you know Heero's your brother."

"Huh... no way! Let me see that," she says stunned. Looking carefully she realizes that Sophia was right. "So, he had a kid after all," Niko whispers to herself.

"Ally, Ally ox and Free!!!" Shimi comes bursting in unannounced startling the both of them. "What do you want for breakfast?" Sophia walks past Shimi.

"Nothing that you'll make," Sophia then bolts from her partner because she knew Shimi was chasing her for her insult.

"You'd think those two were sisters." Niko climbs the stares of the basement into the kitchen. Closing the door behind her, she watches the two as they race around the table. Wufei, Duo, and Trowa were already sitting at the table. Wufei tries to eat in peace, but he had a hard time concentrating. Seeing Niko, Duo just shrugs as Trowa watches in silence.

"Will you two behave for once!!!?" Wufei stands angrily stopping the chase.

"Leave us alone, Wufei; we're not hurting anything," Shimi says annoying, but the damage was already done. Wufei and Sophia stare at each other hard.

"I..." she looks down and realizes she must have picked up the papers again when Shimi surprised her. **_The papers... I can't tell him, not after what I did to him._** Shimi snatches the papers out of her hand.

"What's this?" she asks holding them out of Sophia's reach as Heero, Daga, and Quatre come walking in. "Wow!! Heero, I didn't know you and Niko were related." Everyone looks at Heero who looks shocked at the news. "And Trowa, how come you never mentioned Catherine as your sister?" Sophia snatches the papers before she could finish. **_HEY!!!_**

"That was my project, Shimi... I wanted it to be a surprise." She looks at Trowa. "He's been so nice to you Shimi. He's the only boyfriend I'll allow here. I trust him to a point."

"Really?"

"Yes... but don't get your hopes up. That doesn't mean anything." Shimi's eyes light up.

"I hope it's not too late to say good morning because I overslept," Quatre says embarrassed.

"It's only 9:20. You'll live." She voice is calm as she passes him. Something in his eyes sparked her interest. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Would you like to go on a picnic...? That is if it isn't too late."

"It is too late." The disappointment in his eyes made her feel bad. "Besides I'm cleaning the house today I can't go out," she watches Wufei put up his plate. He didn't even glace up at her as he left the kitchen. A feeling of disappointment and hurt waves over her. As thought a button has been pressed, she goes to the cupboard; taking out bowls, spoons, and milk, she places them on the table. Sophia then heads back to the basement.

"Sophia, aren't you going to stay for breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," she says sadly to Niko and then disappears in the basement.


	24. Trust

Disclaimer: Hi, I hope you like this one; I wrote this one pretty fast. Tell me what you thing. Please Read and Review. o ï

Gundam Wing Episode 24

Trust

8:01a.m.

**_It took me almost a whole month, but it was worth it. _** The two red eyes watch as Sophia exit the house from up in a nearby tree. **_Leaving so soon Sophia. _**He listens to the keys jingle in her hands as she lams the door shut. The three steps without warning turn into a ramp. She slides down nearly falling on her face. Shaken by the sudden drop, she looks up at the house.

"Mischievous behave; I'll be gone for about two hours. Watch the house for me." She smiles as the back door locks for her. Taking the motorcycle beside the house, she leaves.

"I'll be waiting for you to come back young lady. He looks at the house as she leaves. I have some work to do anyway. He takes his time walking to the house.

A giant screen comes down above Shimi's bed. It turns on. The little fox's smile fades seeing she was also asleep. It sighs then walks back and forth on the screen thinking. A light bulb flashes on its head. He grabs the light bulb and flashes it in her face. He shines it brighter and brighter and when she tried to turn away from it the screen went with her.

Annoyed by the continual light, she lets out an abrupt roar that wakes everyone. She puts the over her head a moment, but sits up. Mischievous peaks up from the bottom of the screen.

"It's just Mischievous," Dr J moans and the other four scientists follow his example to go back to sleep.

"What do you want?" Everyone's face, that could fit, pops up on screen. "Check the guest file." The pictures disappear and the red eyed fox returns on screen only this time with a book in his hands.

"So, what's the deal with the animated fox?" Duo asks still somewhat asleep.

"He's a computer virus Sophia made as a back up security system for the house."

"Is that wise to do that?" Quatre asks; looking up from the book Mischievous shakes his head and then stomps off clearly angry with what he had said about him.

"Don't worry he usually behaves well." Suddenly pictures start to pop up on screen. **_That's strange I though for sure I put them in. _**"I'll enter them in later; don't let any strangers in the house, and I want no harm to come to anyone in this house registered or not ok." The little fox solutes Shimi before blipping out, she goes back to sleep.

Heero looks at the blank screen a moment; Duo shrugs going back to sleep. **_ I have a bad feeling about that virus. _**He glances at Trowa. They both seem to be thinking the same thing.

A cloaked man removes his disk form the computer and then takes the mouse. He clicks on the present on the screen before leaving the room. Looking down the hall he decides to explore. Picking the first door, he peaks inside. Two girls around 13 years of age were sleeping on bunk beds. The darts in the room when a door opens down the hall; he listens to the footsteps as they come closer. He then peeks out the crack he left in the door. **_Niko Nightwind, so you're here too._**

He watches him yawn and open the bathroom door. The cloaked man takes out what looks like a thick pen. Pressing a button, it extends; he moves behind Niko. Bring it down, an ax blade slides out. It cuts deep into the screen that shot down just in time. Startled Niko turns around. Sparks fly from the screen. The bathroom door instantly shuts locking him outside. He then rips his weapon from the screen. All the doors lock leaving him stranded outside. **_Hum... nice security system. Too bad it won't be for long. _**He heads to the end of the hall going downstairs.

"Good morning, Trowa," Quatre says as he enters the kitchen. "Did you have any luck finding where she hid the gundams?" He opens the basement door.

"Unfortunately no," he follows Quatre down the basement stares and to the computer.

"I'm hoping we could get some leads from her computer."

"Has Sophia come home yet?"

"Yes, she's in her room," he stops for a moment after turning on the computer. **_Wait he was there with me._**

"Have you figured me out yet, Mr. Winner?" he asks after grabbing some wire off a nearby shelf. Without warning he grabs his hand from the keyboard and twists his arm behind him. "This shouldn't take too long." It wasn't long before he had tied up Quatre head and feet. Placing his hand on Quatre's forehead, he changes into his likeness surprising him. "Thank you for the information and goodbye, Mr. Winner."

**_Sophia's in danger._** He struggles with the wires. He gags Quatre before climbing the stares. Quatre closes the door running into Duo.

"Hey Quatre, did you find anything?"

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Quatre; well just have to try a different approach."

"I'll go talk to her." Duo looks at him strange a moment. Seeing he was serious, he opens the door for him.

"You know you can still back out." Quatre walks in. "Ok then, it's your funeral."

"Come on in; it's open." he walks in closing the door behind him. Duo sticks his head out of the shower. "Is there a problem, Trowa?"

"She's hidden them well."

"Quatre had the same problem. He's decided to go to the source."

"Is that wise?"

"That's what I asked him, but he thinks he can handle her. He thinks she'll listen to him." A screen comes down interrupting their conversation. Mischievous comes on screen catching his breath in the back as a weasel pop up.

"Enjoy the last few moments of your live. Let's see how well you can dodge lasers!" the screen changes showing Heero and Shimi on screen. They hug the wall as lasers start popping up around the room. Trowa grabs the doorknob. It turns rid hot burning his hand. "Now, now, no help from the peanut gallery." Mischievous rolls up his sleeves and jumps the weasel. There's a smoke cloud as the two duke it out. The shark come chomping between them nearly getting them both.

"Hey! Watch it you fool! You almost chomped me!" he screams as Heero and Shimi fall through a trap door.

"Are you ok, Trowa?" Duo asks sticking his head out of the shower once again. The door shuts on Duo's neck as Trowa examines his hand. "A little help." Trowa, with his good hand, tries to push the door back. Using his body, it opens wider for Duo and him to go inside. Turning off the hot water, he lets the cold water run on his hand. "Thanks."

"I thought you might enjoy the company."

"Thanks for the consideration, but I think we're next on the weasel's hit list." The bottom falls out of the shower as Mischievous manages to slip away as the shark and the weasel argue.

The computer screen turns on catching Quatre's attention. Mischievous looks at him through the screen curiously, and he then takes something out of his pocket. It turns into a bean saber. Quatre jumps slightly hearing the steady hum behind him. The wire suddenly slackens and slips off his hands. Ripping the gag off, he stands up in time to see the beam disappear into the floor.

"You're not Quatre or Niko," Sophia says reopening the blinds to see the sunset.

"What makes you say that?" he asks as a screen pops down in the room. They both look up as Mischievous blips on worried. Quatre scowls.

"Mischievous watch out!" the little fox nervously dodges the jaws of the giant shark. He freaks out and starts running. They play follow the leader running up and down, left and right, and diagonally across the screen. "Call off the shark." She watches a smirk form on his face.

"I'm surprised you figured it out so quickly. My name is Cobra." She holds her ground watching him carefully. "I'm afraid my shark and Jack the weasel are going to be too much for that little fox to handle." He slowly changes back into his original human cloaked form.

He's taller then Rashid... and that's tall. "I'm guessing that cloak is some kind of hologram projection."

"My ability to change into people is an acquirement not a hallucination, young lady. If you must know it's to hide my true self." He bends over holding his stomach as though sick. The cloak rips off as the back of his neck and head folds out like a fan. She gulps taking a few steps back. Its head was the size of the back of a Dodge truck. Taking a step to the side, his head follows the movement then lunges for it like a guided missile. She jumps out of the way, but he does a sharp turn catching her ankle in midair. Sophia snaps back like a whip. Cobra releases her letting her fall flat on her stomach.

She moans as pain shoots from her stomach and pushes her shaken body to her knees. Cobra's head returns to a normal snake head. He zips to her until they were face to face. She puts her head down so not to see his face. Losing interest he moves away. **_Is he waiting for something to happen? ...and how could he have more then one animal form? Oh no, Quatre. He had to have some kind of contact with him. _**She scoots toward the door, but her ankle made it difficult. Suddenly she gets pulled away from the door. Looking back, she sees Cobra had curled up and was pulling her back with the end of his tail. She tries to pull her foot free, but his grip was strong. She then sits up and rips it off with her bare hands. Her foot starts to swell around two quarter sized holes in her ankle. It continues to bleed as she rips off her shirt and ties it to her ankle. It stops bleeding soon after. **_He's waiting for the venom to spread, but I have to get to Quatre. _**

"What have you done with, Quatre!!" Quatre comes bursting in.

"Sophia, are you, ok?" she stands up happily at his generous question. Thank God he's ok. She steps forward, but Cobra gets in her face again ready to strike. She backs up stepping on his tail. He quickly wraps her up and squeezes her like an anaconda.

"Aahhh!!"

"Sophia!"

"No, don't," she says stopping him. "Get my laptop and download Mischievous. The house will reset erasing the other two viruses."

"But Sophia."

"JUST DO AS I SAY...!!!" She opens one eye as she continues to talk to him. Her voice softens, "I'm fine, silly." As Quatre works, Cobra starts to squeeze tighter. **_Ooh... Please hurry Quatre._** Everything starts to go black. Suddenly the curls move away from her. Her eyes grow wide when her eyes start to focus again on the opened mouth of the snake ready to devour her whole.

Quatre slams Cobra in the head with the laptop as everything in the house shuts down. He was dazed long enough for Quatre to jump on the snakes back. He then tries to shake Quatre off. Shooting straight up, Cobra hits his head and then shoots for Quatre who surprisingly caught him by the mouth enabling Sophia time to make it to the door after picking up the laptop. Cobra pulls away from him and looks at him a moment before going after Sophia again.

"Ahh!!" He slams into her going through the door and down the laundry shoot. "Quatre!!"

"Sophia!" No!!" he calls down the laundry shoot. Without hesitation he fallows after her.

"No wonder we couldn't find this place. The trap doors are all in unusual places." Duo looks around and whistles. He looks at all the suits. Suddenly the house transforms into some kind of large air ship. It shoots straight up.

"Here you go Duo," Shimi says handing him some clothes as he gets his balance back.

"Thanks"

"No problem," she says with a smile, "There's a changing room over there and we should be landing in a few hours." Going in, he puts on the clothes.

"Not bad." A whoosh sound gets his attention as something fall out of the laundry shoot. Some clothes falls in the basket as he walks up to it. He jumps back as a giant cobra emerges from it. It stares at him a moment before exiting the basket. Crashing through the door, Duo stands there stunned. "Man, I'm _never_ going to get use to this splicer thing." Another layer of clothes comes down followed by Quatre. "Are you ok, Quatre?" He knocks over the basket as Duo helps Quatre out.

"Where did he go?"

"Take a left."

"Thanks." He races in the direction Duo pointed in.

"I wonder why he's in a hurry." Duo was about to move the basket back in place when he saw a hand. Moving the clothes away, he sees Sophia unconscious. "Sophia." She doesn't respond. "Sophia, come on kid."

"What happened?" She opens her eyes. "Where's Quatre."

"He just went after the giant snake."

"What! And you didn't stop him!" She gets up; ignoring the pain, she runs out the door.

"Still not talking, Wufei," he doesn't look at Sally, but keeps walking down the hanger only to stop in front of a gundam.

**_ How did you find me? _** He opens the cockpit and walks in.

"I followed you of course..." She watches him. "It's not hard to miss a tail that long." He looks startled by her answer and looks behind her. Sally playfully tugs on it until he blushes. "Why don't you apologize to her?"

"As soon as she learns to control her temper," he says walking away from her. he goes the lower platform to look at another suit.

"Well, you can't say I didn't try," she whispers to herself. A loud crash gets their attention. She quickly moves to the side letting the giant snake pass. Its thick tail knocks her over the side. She lands on something furry. The huge black wolf lands on the floor of the hanger just as Quatre does.

"Are you ok, Sally?"

"Yes, but where did this wolf come from?" Before he could answer Quatre spots Cobra heading for a mobile suit. He heads for Cobra, but the hanger door opens stopping the both of them. The escaping air turns into a suction as things go flying out of the hanger.

"NO!" Sophia screams seeing Quatre start to get sucked out along with the snake. She leaps down changing into her animal form to pick up speed only to change back grabbing his hand as the two slid out. Sophia and Quatre look like flags in the wind as she digs her claws into the edge of the hanger door.

"Sophia, you're alive."

"Of course I'm alive, silly... I don't go down that easily." She pulls him up enough to get his arms around her waist. He starts to blush suddenly. When Sophia changed into a fox she lost all her clothes. She sighs after the awkward moment. She grabs his shirt and pulls him up again until his hand touches the hanger.

"You have some explaining to do young lady." She starts to blush when Noin grabs her hand as Zecks pulls Quatre up into the hand of one of he white mobile suits. Noin helps her up.

"Ms. Noin."

"Hello Quatre, it's good to see you." Sophia stands up, but drops to her knees in pain. Quatre takes off his vest puts it on Sophia. The hatch closes. A dreamy feeling overwhelms her until she passes out. She could hear the faint voice of Quatre calling her name. She feels like a feather floating. The pain in her ankle seems far away as a warm hand grazes her face. She opens her eyes as a black wolf rests its head on her stomach.

"Wufei, is that you?" He lifts his head. I'm glad to see you're awake. 

Thanks for staying with me."

I wasn't the only one. She pets him on the head. He gets up and leaves the room.

"How are you feeling Sophia?" She looks up at Quatre. She sits up somewhat in a daze. "You shouldn't be getting up, Sophia," but she ignores him. When he tries to stop her she surprises him with a tight hug. He feels her heart pounding out of her chest. "What's wrong, Sophia?"

"I haven't been that scared since..."

"It's ok; he's gone," he says wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now is time to rest yourself... and I'll be here with you." He kisses her on the forehead.

A taxi stops in front of the hotel. After paying the driver, a familiar shaggy haired teen climbs out. He goes inside just as a pink limo pulls up. Relena steps out and surveys her new surroundings before going in herself.


	25. Heero's Twin

Disclaimer: Tell me what you think. Please R&R.

Gundam Wing Episode 25

Heero's Twin

10:30p.m.

The elevator opens on the third floor of the Golden Fox Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. Relena walks out and heads to her hotel room. Unlocking the door, she goes in. She leans on the door closing it and sighs. **_ This is the third time this week I've lost two body guards. I wonder who's after me this time. _**Her heart starts pounding.**_ But that's not what's bothering me... Heero... Was that Heero I saw in the hallway? _**

Flash

"Did your meeting go well, Ms. Relena?" the two start down the hallway to the dinning room of the hotel.

"Yes, but something's going down, Pagon."

"Going down," he laughs, "You sound like that young lady you met on the shuttle home a few months ago." She laughs herself remembering the girl who wanted her autograph on a picture she took. Delighted she let the girl stay with her for a few days before finding out her real objectives. She enters the dinning room that resembled a restaurant. It was starting to fill quickly. Before she could take another step inside she bumps into a janitor.

"Excuse me," he wore a matching hat that complimented his green uniform with baby blue tennis shoes. His sunglasses cover his eyes, but his voice was unmistaken.

**_Heero?_** She turns to confirm her theory, but he was no where in sight.

Flash

... **_No I'm just imagining it. I'm starting to think Pegan is right; I need a vacation. Maybe a hot shower will relax me. _**She goes to the bathroom. The sound of the shower drowns out the sound of the front door opening. Three sets of feet enter the room one unaware by the other two. One heads to the sound of the shower taking a wire out of his pocket. The other starts to search the room. He smiles finding what she was looking for.

Without a word, he gets run through. He drops the collar on the floor as the tail retraces; his body rests unmoving on the floor. Blood starts to seep into the white rug of the room. A scream sends him immediately goes to the bathroom. He digs his nails into the attacker's neck. He hollers in pain as he's ripped from his victim. Relena stands up.

"Heero," he blushes and then quickly closes the shower door.

"Um... stay there," he says dodging the knife that ends up stuck in the shower door. He pulls out a gun and shoots him. Relena opens the shower door as Heero leaves the room.

"Heero wait!" she grabs a towel and goes after him. She sees no one in the hallway as she looks around for him. "I guess I wasn't seeing things," she says happily. **_He'll be back._**

"Are you sure nothing was taken?"

"Yes, officer," she says as another officer with gloves comes out with a Ziploc bag. It held the knife and the wire that were used as weapons.

"Where are your body guards, Ms. Relena?"

"Would you believe, they were my body guards," she says with a sigh. The officer look is taken aback by her answer. "You'll have to stay in another room then."

He watches Relena enter her new room. She says her good night to the officer before closing the door. He stands at the door unaware of the two watchful eyes as they scurry on the door. As room service comes, he waits patently.

"Miss Relena, your dinner's here," he says after opening the door and putting it down on the small table.

"Thank you," she looks up from her book. She smiles at him as he closes the door behind him. She looks up at a sound. Not seeing anyone she goes back to reading. Unknown eyes continue to watch her.

Flash

Sophia hands him a picture.

"Her name's Relena Dorling aka Relena Peacecraft/ Queen Relena."

"She's pretty."

"I'm glad you like her because she's your first assignment."

"Oh, but... Sophia I, I can't. I don't think I'm ready."

"I know you're ready," she puts a hand on his uneasy shoulder and then whispers in his ear, "I trust you're abilities." He sighs putting his head down on the basement table. He takes one last look at the picture before sliding it back to her, but she slides it back with a kind smile. "Keep it."

"Oh no, I couldn't do that; she sighed it and everything."

"I got it for you."

Flash

She looks even more beautiful in person. He watches her finally put down her book, do to her tray and eat.

Relena sighs watching the other residents of the hotel enjoy themselves in the pool or sunbath. A little girl taps her on the shoulder and hands her a red rose.

"Why thank you; that's..." She smiles at the little girl, "very thoughtful of you." That's when she notices the note attached. It read:

_Don't worry; someone's watching over you, Relena._

"Who gave this to you?" The little girl points the janitor on the other side of the pool. She instantly recognizes him as he goes inside. **_Heero. _** Relena smiles after smelling the rose. The little girl runs off as Relena gets up heading in the direction she saw Heero go. She sees a glimpse of him as he turns the corner, but when she turns a corner there's a dead end. As she turns back, she notices the janitor's closet open a crack. She slides in. Hearing voices, she enters deeper inside.

"I think she's still in love with Heero."

"Don't tell you you're falling for her. That's not good."

"I know... but I can't help it." There's a moment of silence.

"How is she?" a female voice asks changing the subject.

"She's a little edgy, so I wrote her a small message." Relena moves closer seeing Heero, but the voice that came from his mouth wasn't his. "... Are you sure Heero doesn't mind me using his identity for this mission, Sophia?"

"You asked him yourself; don't worry about it. You're doing just fine."

**_That voice sounds familiar. _**Relena stays still not daring to go any closer. She's the one who asked for the autograph on the shuttle ride to earth.

"I just feel awkward using... you know. Couldn't I just be a cop?"

"Of course; you can be anything you want," Sophia says in a teasing voice. Relena decides it's time to go after looking at her watch. He hangs up the phone, and then looks up when he hears a noise. His eye glow bright a moment and fade out when he sees no one.

**_If that's not Heero... then who is he? _** Relena puts down the book she had a hard time reading. She finds herself dozing off. **_Why did I leave? If it were actually Heero I would have confronted him._**

Flash

"Going on another mission, Heero?" Heero jumped and quickly draws his gun and pointed it a Relena. "So you can be surprised."

Flash

_**Have I... lost my nerve...?**_

Flash

Relena looked at the picture of her adoptive father.

"Please, don't laugh at me father," she looks out the window. "I need Heero around me to be strong just a little while longer."

Flash

**_I need to stop using Heero as my crutch..._** She notices something on the roof. **_Huh...? What's that?_** At first she doesn't believe it. Sleeping on the roof is a young man around her age dressed in a white under shirt and blue jean shorts. He loses his grip as she screams seeing him. He lands on the bed as his long lizard like tail unrolls on as the police pound on her front door responding to her screams. He looks into Relena's frightened eyes still somewhat asleep. Realizing where he is his yellow eyes glow with surprise and embarrassment.

Some of her fear diminishes when she sees him blush. He dashes under the bed as the officers come crashing in.

"Miss Darlian, Are you ok?"

"Yes, I just had a bad dream that's all," she lies convincingly.

"If you need anything we'll be right outside your door."

"Thank you, officer." They lower their guns and leave the room. "You can come out now," she whispers getting out of bed. As she looks under the bed, she sees his yellow glowing eyes.

"... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you."

"Aren't you going to come out?" she asks curiously.

"No... it's best if I stay here," he says sadly, "I don't want to scare you, again."

"I' sorry...," she says feeling guilty. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok; I um... get that a lot. It's best if you just pretend I'm not here." She reluctantly goes back to bed.

Flash

"Freeze, don't move a muscle," the five scientists turned from the controls; Dr. J stood up.

"Hey Cans, long time no see," Dr. J said enthusiastically though his friend had a gun pointed at them. Cans fired the gun; the bullet grazed his shoulder. "Ah!" he crumbled to one knee cringing in pain the other four scientists at his back.

"I told you not to move."

"Go ahead and kill us," Dr. J said through clinched teeth.

"You people have caused me nothing, but headaches. How many times do you have to interfere with Operation: Meteor?"

"The gundams were more then enough to takes revenge for Heero Yuy last time and this time as well."

"If it weren't for you people, changing the orders to gundam pilots, man kind would have come to its senses a lot sooner then this."

"Probably," Dr. J painfully stood up, "but we rate man kind a lot higher then you ever did."

"Enough!"

"We're going to interfere on last time." Professor G pressed a button on the consol just as a gun shot echoed off the walls. An explosion jerked everyone forward. After a moment, a young girl walked up to the five. Cans unmoving body told its story as a pool of blood formed around him.

"You're lucky," she said dully, "It's only a flesh wound."

"And who might you be? We were prepared to die," G said coldly.

"Don't worry about him; we're grateful you saved our lives," J said trying to remember the familiar face.

"Some of us have weird ways of showing it," Dr. S said as Master O steps forward.

"Sophia," he said giving her a hug surprising the others. "You've grown up, so much."

Flash

"So she saved you guys just before the giant block came crashing in to the earth's atmosphere, not bad," Duo says picking some ticks out of his tail. "Man, you'd think this place wouldn't have such a bug problem first fleas now ticks. What's next?"

"Daga didn't come alone." Heero looks up as the little rabbit girl runs in leaping into Heero's arms. "I gave Thumper a bath, so there'll be no more ticks... Duo," a smirk crosses her face before she somewhat limps out of the room. **_I wouldn't be surprised if she put those ticks in my bed herself. _**Duo continues to watch the doorway where Sophia was. Heero puts Thumper down. Curious, she starts exploring the room and it's inhabitance as they continue to talk. She stops a while to listen to Trowa's story.

Flash

Trowa followed Wufei stopping in front of a green mobile suit that was quite similar to his own Heavyarms.

"Let me guess... this is the lucky guy who gets to work one of my Serpent suits." They looked over to see Sophia. She had her hair in pony tails which made her look around eleven or twelve years old. She wore an over grown lab coat with her wrists shackled together on font of her.

"Have you changed your mind yet?" Wufei demanded harshly, "I know you hate those shackles."

"You know my answer." They stare at each other hard a moment.

"Give him a suit," he said heading for his gundam.

"So you're pilot 03; follow me." He followed her inside the nearest suit. He looked at the controls; he quickly figured them out. He looked up to see her gnawing on the restraints on her wrists.

"There's an easier way to get those off."

"Don't worry about me," she reached in her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. Handing it to him she said, "I thought this will make yore journey a lot shorter." He glanced at the paper. **_These are direction to the navigation room._** The sound of twisting metal got attention. She had broken the restrains down the center so that they looked like wrist bands. "That's the thing about iron, you work at one spot long enough and it tears like a sheet of paper." She winks at Trowa before she hopped out.

Flash

Seeing that the story was over Thumper goes back to her exploring. She stops before reaching the five scientists.

"Don't tell me these five ugly scientists scare you," Dr. J says with a laugh. She backs up as they stand up; she hides behind Trowa watching them closely until they were out of sight.


	26. Uneasiness

Disclaimer: Tell me what you think. Please R&R.

Gundam Wing Episode 26

Uneasiness

10:30p.m.

Jeff feels discouraged by his by his resent embarrassment. Relena had seen his true form, so he feels he should leave. Taking his two suitcases he leaves the janitors closet.

"Leaving so soon, Heero." Jeff jumps and looks over at a familiar blonde and blushes. His hood covers most of his face with a shadow. She recognizes his uneasy, nervous reaction as she approaches him.

"I'm sorry...but you have the wrong person."

"What is your name?"

"Jeffrey Salamander," he says closing the door; he starts down the hall.

"Is it because of my reaction when I saw you, Jeffrey?" Jeff stops dead in his tracks as she finishes, "or is it because you're in love with me?" He squeezes the handles of his suitcases and forces himself forward. Relena follow him in the elevator.

**_Why is she following me?_** He looks at her his eyes still covered in shadow. The elevator door opens and he exits this time his pas is faster then before. Determined, she continues to follow him, but she has a hard time keeping up. She watches him enter a cab. She barely makes it in before it drives away. "I... don't have money for the both of us," he says softly.

"Just because I saw you you're going to run away. What kind of a body guard are you?" she says sternly. Seeing he wasn't going to change his mind she sighs and softly says, "Why is it that I always seem to scare off my own body guards?"

"Stop here," he sighs getting out after handing the driver the last of his money. "Come on Relena." She's surprised, but she obeys. "I hope you don't mind walking back to the hotel."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I um... couldn't just leave you stranded in the middle of San Antonio by... yourself."

Shimi presses a few buttons on the computer. Sophia, Quatre, and Jeff's picture show up on screen. She sighs and moves away from the screen. She's been down in the basement for some time now fixing the problem of missing data which was lost during the Cobra incident.

Flash

"You're going to have to tell him sooner or later, Shimi."

Flash

Pressing the spacebar, she leaves back in her chair lost in thought.

Flash

"I sent Jeff on a mission," Sophia says packing. "So, don't worry about him."

"Where are you going?"

"I have to check on my father's business. I'm almost eighteen. I'll be inheriting it all soon."

"You know Quatre didn't finish his training before he left," Sophia looks up, "Just to tell you."

"... he, he has his own business to go back to remember besides he's only been gone for almost three weeks. He'll be fine."

Flash

**_It's obvious; she's in love with him._** "I'm going to bed, Mischievous ...I'm tired." Mischievous comes up on screen. "You can finish the rest." He solutes Shimi, she notices a mark on her arm. Curious, she tries to rub it out thinking it was a black mark from helping Sophia with her motorcycle she was making for Wufei as a birthday present. She rubs the area, but as she does, stripes form all up and down her arm. She gasps seeing them on her other arm and legs as well.

Flash

"Trowa's a kind person; he'll help you through this. It'll only get worse it you don't tell him." Sophia hugs Shimi from behind as she looks in the mirror.

Flash

Shimi stands up. **_I can't go upstairs like this_**. She sighs. **_... Or can I?_** She goes upstairs as the light from outside starts to creep through the window. "Don't tell me I was up all night." She grabs an apple off the table and then heads for the fridge. She then grabs some thawed stew meat before heading to her room. She startled to see Trowa there waiting for her. "Trowa, what a surprise," she says uneasily.

"Are you avoiding me?" Shimi looks to the floor sadly.

"... Maybe," she says softly. "I just needed time to myself for a while... I've been sick," she closes the door. "Didn't Sophia tell you?"

"I don't believe that story, quit acting." She avoids eye contact a moment before bursting into tears. She moves away from him when he tries to comfort her.

"Oh! Don't touch me, Trowa... I'm pregnant." She continues to cry afraid to look at his face.

"Is that all, Shimi," she looks at him surprised by his reaction.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he says hugging her. He holds up a ring for her to see. "I wasn't sure what color stone you wanted."

"OH TROWA!!"

"..." Quatre looks down the hall. "Where is everyone?" He goes to the nearest room. Walking in, he sees no one. He starts to leave she a hand behind the arm chair catches his attention. He goes over and is surprised at what he finds. "What, what happened?" The lifeless eyes stare back at him. The blood washes up at his feet.

Quatre quickly goes to the phone, but when he picks up the receiver he sees that the cord had been cut. Just then something dashes out of the room. He follows in the direction he saw it go. He's soon running down the hall until he bursts into the dinning room. He's taken aback by the bodies thrown and scattered on the floor like rag dolls. He backs up into the wall in shock.

"What's happening? They're all-"

The same black shadow catches his eyes again. Determined to get answers, he follows again. He opens the door in front of him. The bright light blinds him as he enters. He finds himself on the roof. The black shadow's there as well.

"Did you do this?" he says moving closer when he receives no answer. The hood comes off. "Sophia?"

"Stay where you are," she says her voice somewhat shaky from fright, "Don't, don't come any closer."

"Sophia, what's wrong?" he asks confused. Her eyes grow wide as he continues forward. She backs up tripping over the edge. "Sophia!"

"AHH!!!" he grabs her arm. She looks down as the ground seems to move farther away. She starts to slip.

"Sophia, give me your other hand." She looks back at him with her fear stained eyes.

"I, I can't."

"Sophia, please!" His claws dig into her arm. Blood slowly drips down her arm as she slips from his grip. "Sophia, NOO!!" He painfully turns his head away at the last second. He cries as he sinks to the floor. Quatre gasps when he notices his hands. His eyes grow wide with fright seeing them dripping with blood. Quatre then finds himself back in the dinning room only this time he was in the center surrounded by the dead bodies of his men, friends, and family. He stands up terrified.

"Quatre," he looks around, but he couldn't tell where the voice was coming from; it continued to call out his names as the voice multiplies. "It was you, Quatre." The voices become unbearably louder. "YOU KILLED US MASTER QUATRE!! QUATRE!!" The voices continue even though he covered his ears.

"It wasn't me! ... I would never." The room starts to fill with blood as the voices continue. The blood rises quickly. When he tries to keep his head afloat he feels hands pulling him under.

Quatre gasps sitting up in bed. He's covered in sweat as he breaths heavily. He goes to the bathroom and splashes colt water on his face. He looks in the mirror and notices his hair was longer then usual. Opening the medicine cabinet, he takes out a pair of scissors. He then cuts it to its original length before going back to bed. He stares into the darkness of the room unable to sleep. Turning over, he notices the clock which read 4:15 a.m. He sighs.

"I can't sleep," he says finally giving in. Sitting up, he decided to go take a shower. After locking the door, he turns on the water and walks in. He stands there letting the hot water drench him.

Flash

"Sophia," Quatre knocked on her door, "It's time to change your bandages."

"Come in." He walked in to see her limp into bed.

"You know you're suppose to stay off that foot, Sophia," he said walking over to her.

"I'm fine; I'll heal faster then you would anyway." He started removing the bandages from her foot.

"Not if you don't stay off it."

"I'm not helpless you know." There's a moment of silence.

"Sophia"

"Hum?"

"Do you still think I'm weak?"

"Yes," she answered quickly picking up a book off the table, but then she finished and said, "You're stronger then most though." He sat back after finishing. "You're the kindest person I know and you're sweet." He felt himself blush before he found the courage to ask his question.

"Do you... love me, Sophia?"

"Well I um..." her face turns red right before she buried her face in the book. She slowly put the book down and sighed. She moved over and kissed him on the lips.

Flash

**_I miss her. _**Quatre turns off the shower and steps out. Grabbing a few towels, he dries himself off. His long blond hair falls to his shoulders starling him**_. That's strange... I thought I cut my hair._** Using one of his towels, he defogs the mirror. He hair had grown longer then when he'd just cut it. His fox ears surprise him. **_I, I can't be changing._** Just then the light bulb blew out showing his glowing blue-green eyes. Terror hits him as he back up into the shower door. **_Not, not again._**

Flash

"Do you need any help?" Quatre asked after watching Sophia put the finishing touches on her own gundam.

"Nope," she rubbed her hands in her overalls. "Just stand in the corner and watch, Care Bear." He suddenly got a strange urge to play with her hair when she almost backed up into him. "Quatre..." she turned, "What are you doing?" He quickly removes his hands. "Are your eyes glowing?" He noticed his hands were slowly changing. When she saw the panic in his eyes she said, "Quatre, are you ok." He put his hand on the rail only to have it break in his hand. "You don't know your own strength, Quatre," she said teasing. Her comment only makes his heart race more.

"...you're right"

"I was just joking, Quatre," she says reading his face.

"What, what happens if I can't-?"

"Shh!!" Sophia cups his face into her hands. "You're not going to hurt anyone. That wasn't you remember." She entwines her claw in his. "See... just calm down and you'll change back."

Flash

Still breathing heavily, he closes his eyes. He tries to relax himself still leaning on the shower door. Calm down and try to relax. He opens his eyes and breaths a sigh of relief. His ears, hair, and eyes return to normal.


	27. Memories

Disclaimer: Tell me what you think, or I will cry. Please R&R.

Gundam Wing Episode 27

Memories

11:30a.m.

The bell rings indicating break. The workers all head off for lunch. Abdul stops a moment seeing Quatre still going over a few things.

"Are you coming for lunch Master?" he asks; Quatre looks up and smiles.

"It's ok, Abdul; I'm just going to finish up before I go."

"Are you sure; I can bring you back something if you want."

"No thank you; I'm fine." He goes back to what he was doing, but his mind begins to wander.

Flash

Duo, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Shimi were eating breakfast in the kitchen. She glanced at Trowa across from her watching him eat a moment. She shoved the table a bit into Trowa. Duo and Heero, who are on either side of Trowa, look up with their friend. Wufei seemed unfazed by the commotion. He sat closest to the door. Sophia came walking in wearing an aqua dress at knee length with one inch slits on each side. Over the dress she has a large black jacket. Her shoes match the hair bow she has in her hair the keeps her hair up.

"And where are you going?" Shimi asked smugly, "with your hair up... and wearing a dress." She knew something was up because she hardly ever wore dresses except on special accessions.

"Out," Her voice is calm with a hint of annoyance in it without even looking at her friend heading straight for the door. "I'm not going to be gone long." Just then Quatre walked in from the back door with Professor G.

"Is that me jacket?" Wufei asked looking at his sister, his voice full of annoyance. **_Why does she always take my clothes? _**

"I'm not going to be gone that long, Wufei. I'll bring it back in one piece."

"You're not going out already are you?" She ignored Quatre's worried face, but respects him by answering not as harshly.

"Yes, I'm going out."

"But, you just got well yesterday. I don't think it's very wise to go out so soon."

"Quatre, I'm fine. You worry too much."

"Maybe you should listen to Quatre, Sophia." Prof. G walked over to the table and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowel.

"You know I didn't ask for your opinion, professor. No wonder Duo annoys me! He was trained by you!!"

"We can't afford you to have a relapse." Quatre tried again this time his eyes pleading.

"Quatre! I'm only going to buy some chocolate, not a years worth of explosives...! Now please, back away from the door." Sophia crossed her arms waiting, but he doesn't move. "Quatre move, this is the last time I'm saying it nice."

"At least stay two more days, so you won't have a relapse."

"Quatre! Move!"

"Sophia, listen to me."

"Last Warning!" Sophia growled as she balled up her fist. Quatre was about to say something else until he saw her fist coming fast at him. He closed his eyes and braces himself for impact. Sophia stopped her fist a few millimeters from Quatre's face as everyone from the table stood up. "You've got guts, Quatre," he opened his eyes as Sophia crossed her arms and smirked, "Sorry Quatre, but I'm going."

"I bet you couldn't go a week without leaving the house or acting like a drill sergeant," Professor G said after finishing off half of the apple. Sophia glared at him.

"Are you implying that I have no self control?"

"It depends how you look at it," Professor G laughed and began to leave.

"I'll take that bet." G stopped and looked at Quatre a moment before looking at Sophia to see her reaction which was no more than a raised eyebrow. **_Quatre's up to something. _**Trowa watched interested like the others at the table who were listening quietly.

"I'm sorry, Sophia, but I agree with the Professor."

"What! Fine, I'll show all of you. Yeah, even you guys at the table! I can read all your faces plain as day especially you Wufei."

"So, you're getting better at it," Wufei said standing up to put his plate to wash.

"You bet I am and I don't like what I see," Sophia looked at Quatre, "Don't worry, Quatre; I'll prove you wrong."

"So, you agree to the bet, Sophia," Quatre said.

"Of course I do," Sophia said then glared at Professor G, "Anything else I should know."

"Yes, you have to be on your best behavior or act like a highly respected Chinese woman, and no fighting," G glares back at her.

"I can go a week without fighting. Come on make it more challenging."

"And to make sure you follow these rules of the bet..." G paused and looked around. **_No way he's sticking me with Duo. It's most likely Trowa or Wufei._** "Quatre will watch you and make sure you abide by the rules."

"Quatre?"

"Hush, why me?"

"Why tenderfoot?" Shimi got a surprised look from Quatre, "Sorry Quatre I call everyone who's kind that... I mean why torture Quatre."

"Torture Quatre! What about me? I can't talk about certain things when he's around and plus we don't have enough room," Sophia said sticking her hands in the pockets of Wufei's jacket.

"Where exactly is your bed, Quatre?" Shimi asked suddenly.

"It's between Wufei and Trowa," Quatre said noticing Shimi's sudden interest.

"What side is Wufei on if you're sleeping on your back?" Shimi stood up and walked up to him.

"Wufei's on the right," She instructed him; Shimi's eyes light up with Quatre's answer. She shook his hand.

"Mr. Winner, you just got yourself a room switch."

"What, you're going to sell me out to share a room with four guys and you being the only girl!" Sophia yelled annoyed. Shimi walked over to Sophia and picked her up to her face by the caller of Wufei's jacket pulling.

"This is a once and a lifetime opportunity to see how cute my lion looks when he's asleep an even get to see him with his shirt off. Are you going to take that away from me?" Shimi growled sounding like a tiger under his breath.

"No... excuse me for being so selfish... Tiger," Sophia chocked out uneasy. Shimi dropped Sophia causing her to stager back a little then Shimi hugged Sophia unexpectedly.

"That's ok, Sophia. Someone has to keep an eye on the Fox. Why not the camel," Shimi walked out the kitchen with a smile on her face as everybody watched her leave.

"If you guys want to know, she sleeps on her left side," Sophia said heading for the door after brushing past Quatre. He grabbed her wrist which sent a shock running through her body. She turned to face Quatre, but hiding any sighs of emotion as she looked into his eyes.

"Sophia, I still think you should stay home," Quatre's eyes were filled with worry. Sophia closed her eyes. **_Ok, don't be mean._** She sighed and opened her eyes, "Quatre, I thank you for taking care of me, but understand my immune system is different from yours." Sophia pulled her wrist free.

"The only way she'll listen to you is if you chain her to yourself," Professor G said watching Sophia closely, "or better yet carry her to her room yourself since you're going to be watching her."

"What's your deal? I'm fine! 16 going on 17 in two months! Leave me be! Dang!!" **_Sometimes I just want to punch him, eah!!_** Suddenly, Quatre picked Sophia up around the waste. "What are you doing?!" Sophia said in surprise, "Put me down!"

"Sorry Sophia."

"Are you crazy?! Quatre! Put me down, now!" **_G put him up to this. _** "Quatre, come on. Put me down!"

"Sorry Sophia, but I don't think eating chocolate, so soon is good for you either."

"Quatre, I swear if you don't put me down I'll-"

"No fighting, Sophia," Professor G said cutting her off. **_He's right and if I hurt Quatre in any way the others jump on me. That's why he picked Quatre! That sneaky no good. _**"Quatre! You put me down, now Mr.! ...Quatre, if you put me down I'll let you come with me... Quatre! Stop!" Shimi walked back into the kitchen bewildered.

"Hey! He swept you off your feet, Sophia." Quatre stopped for a moment.

"Shut up, Shimi! This isn't funny! You know I hate to be picked up!"

"Well, the room's all set, Quatre, just move in your things," Shimi said with a cheery smile.

"I can't believe you, Shimi."

"What are you talking about; the sooner the better."

"What the hell is wrong with you girl! Can't you wait!"

"No!"

"The bet starts tomorrow!"

"It starts right now, Sophia," Professor G said flatly, "since you agreed to it today!"

"Uhuh! I'm going for chocolate today. Put me down, Quatre!"

"Sorry Sophia, I can't-"

"Quatre! You better put me down boy! I'm not playing with chu! Fine!" **_I hate this... deep breath ok._** "Guys with you buy it for me then?"

""Sorry, we used all our money getting up here," Duo explained his face still a little surprised.

"Shimi?"

"Sure, but it won't make it home."

"Wufei, come on you're my brother," she looked at him.

"Hum... your chocolate's too rich for my blood." Wufei said hardly looking her straight in the face. **_He's laughing at me. I know it._** Quatre began to walk towards Sophia's room.

"Quatre wait! This isn't funny! Put me down! Wufei, come on," Sophia said looking worried.

"Try not acting like a spoiled brat and then maybe we'll see," Wufei answered harshly, "I'll bring you your breakfast later."

"Wasn't that a little harsh," Trowa said after he hears the door two Sophia's room close.

"Yeah, but maybe Wufei's right, Trowa, she does tend to pick fights... namely me," Duo leaned back in his chair.

"Maybe Quatre can talk some sense into her," Wufei said after going to the cupboard and takes out a box of Apple Jacks, "She keeps her guard up too much."

**_I can't believe he called me a spoiled brat... maybe, I am, but I can't have people too close to me. My job's too dangerous, but hearing that come from Wufei really hurt._** Sophia put down her brush on her dresser and looked at herself in the mirror then at Quatre's reflection seeing he just finished unpacking his clothes in Shimi's dresser.

"You're only staying for a week you know not five months."

"You're still mad at me aren't you?" he said a little sad.

"Just don't talk to me," she got up and lies on her bed, "are you done yet, Mr. Clean?" He looked up obviously not to thrilled with the comment she just made. **_It's clear I'm not wanted her, but I deserve this for agreeing to this in the first place. Hopefully, she'll cool down by lunch. _**There's a knock on the door and Wufei comes in.

"Hungry Quatre?" Wufei asked walking in with a tray for him that contained a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk and orange juice.

"It's ok Wufei I can get my own breakfast. Sophia should have it," Quatre is surprised by Sophia's sudden motion toward the door.

"I'm not helpless, Quatre," she said as she exits the room, "I can get it myself."

"Don't mind her, Quatre. She'll cool down. She's just not used to you yet," Wufei said handing him the tray, "but if she gives you any trouble tell me."

"Thanks Wufei," he said grateful.

"Don't let the mean things she says get to you. Sophia doesn't really mean them. She's just afraid to get to close to people."

"I don't understand."

"Since her father's death she's refused to get close to anyone else, but it doesn't work out too well because she's actually as kind as you, Quatre," he looked up a bit surprised though he knew in his heart he shouldn't have. "She prefers to hide all emotion because she was taken advantage of. She thinks that was the result caused by her father's death, but it's not her fault." He sighed, "You can't be in two places at once. She thinks by cutting herself off it'll prevent this from happening again. She's even become distant from me."

"I see," Quatre looked down at his bowl. **_I was still grieving over the loss of my father... I guess I went a little crazy. I had just picked out the perfect suit which turned out to be Wing Zero. I was getting ready to order the parts and begin building it myself when Sophia arrived._**

Flash

A look of concern crossed the young girl's face. She removed her cowgirl hat and laid it on the table beside Quatre. "Are you sure you want this suit, Mr. Winner, how about this one?" She switched to a different gundam model on her laptop.

"Does it have the same power?"

"No, but-"

"Then I want the gundam I picked." Quatre was completely unreadable. He seemed to be half listening.

"I know your father's death was a shock. Right now, you're in no condition to pilot anything especially Wing Zero. That gundam's way too powerful. You won't be-"

"That's what I want, Sophia." His no feeling eyes turn glassy. He balls up his fists. "Can you please... just, just do this for me, please?" Tears stream down his face. Sophia sits in his lap so that they were face to face her knees rest on the seat of the chair. She wipes the tears from his face and hugs him. He hugs back.

"Mr. Winner... I'll make both and you can take Desert Storm and I'll take Wing Zero. You won't be able to handle the Zero System, so trust me ok."

"Maybe, maybe you're right."

Flash

_**I could tell she understood me though she tried to stop me. That explains why she helped me build Wing Zero and then gave me the warning, but of course I didn't listen to her and she nearly paid with it with her life.**_

Flash

Sophia ran across the platform and skidded to a stop in front of Desert Storm. Her heart jumped when Wing Zero came to life. "Mr. Winner that too dan-" the engines of Zero drown her out as it zooms forward. "Quatre, you won't be able to control it! COME BACK!!... QUATRE!! Darn it ..." She gets angry as she watches him leave. "DAMN YOU QUATRE!!!! COME BACK!"

As though he heard her, he does a U- turn. **_Thank God, he's come back to his senses._** To her dismay he stops halfway to the entrance from the hanger.

"Sorry Sophia, but I have to do this on my own." Her eyes grow wide when he raised the buster gun at her and fired. She felt the immense heat of the blast when it passed a ways overhead.

She falls to her knees completely shaken. She turned to see a giant hole in her in the center of her gundam. She turned back to him furious but rational. "Quatre listen to me! The Zero System causes-" A small explosion makes her flinch. She turned back at to her gundam and soon realized the danger she was in. Desert Storm self-destructed.

Flash

"I guess she can't bare the thought of being taken advantage of anymore when I finally betrayed her... I guess she snapped. I think you're the only person who can knock her out of this." Quatre looked up at Wufei astounded that he put so much faith in him.

"Don't worry, Wufei; I'll do my best." Suddenly Sophia comes in with an apple in her mouth with a pack of pop tarts a glass of orange juice in the other hand.

"It's going to be a long day Quatre, good luck." Sophia took her orange juice to her dresser.

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" She took a bite out of her apple. **_What does he think I'm going to do? Kill the boy geeze._**

Flash

"I swear I'm not going to forgive him for that either," Sophia whispers to herself remembering that very moment. **_I hate to admit it, but I... I miss Quatre...Maybe Quatre's right about blaming myself. _**

Flash

**_What is she up to this time?_** Quatre somehow managed to follow her without being seen. **_If the others find out she's gone out again, they might do something worse then just restarting the bet like last time._** Sophia dashed through the streets wearing kaki jeans and a red dress shirt with a matching jean jacket that hid her gender well. She wore a red hat with her hair tucked inside to fool people she had short hair.

Sophia stopped in front of the zoo entrance gate and quickly climbs the fence. **_Now if I can only remember where the tiger cage is..._** She moved deeper inside and looked at the signs. "Hum... I hope they didn't change it too much since I've been gone."

"Who's there?!" A light flashed on her. "Ok, kid you know it's a little last to be here in the zoo." The guard walks up to her.

"I just want to see the tiger's cage. My name's Fox and I believe one of the tigers is about to have cubs."

"Fox huh, do your parents know where you are, kid?" he said not amused.

"Don't waste my time, Sam." He looked at her for some time before figuring out who she is.

"Sophia? So, you're still calling yourself Fox."

"Let's just say, the war's not over quite yet." She said looking to her left when she heard a familiar roar. "So, you kept it the same after all."

"Just don't tell anyone I let you in for free," Sam said with a smile as he walks in the other direction.

"You mean like you always do!" Sophia watched him leave before going to the tiger pit. She slid in the pit careful not to seem as a threat and carefully walked to one in the corner. She knelt down next to her. "Hey, Jessica!" The tiger growled at her. "It's ok Jessie, it's me Sophia." She held out her hand, so Jessica could smell her sent. Jessica calms down and let Sophia pet her. "Just relax Jessie and nothing bad will happen."

**_Well, well, well, it seems the Fox has come out of his fox hole. Unfortunately, the fox is being hunted... when I'm through with you Fox you won't know what hit you. _**Fox is seen as he climbed over the fence. The figure watched him walk calmly away from the zoo gate and stop at a near by store. **_Looks like the fox made his own trap._**

**_I have a strange feeling someone's following me._** Sophia picked up a pack of Airheads and goes to the counter to pay for them and hears the bell indicating another customer came in making her slightly nervous. After paying for the candy, she bumped into Quatre. "Quatre! What the hell are you doing here?! You're suppose to be waiting for me to get out of the shower."

"I was and I went on the roof to look at the stars like you said when I heard something in the bushes. That's when I saw you dashing away from the house, so I followed you," he sighed a little disappointed. "What was so important that-?" he stopped seeing the blood stains on her clothes and hands. "What happened? Are you-?"

"It's none of your business and I'm fine. And no, I didn't kill anyone," Fox said fed up. **_He's taking this too far._**

"But what-?"

"Did you hear what I said because I'm not saying a thing until I'm home and asleep, Mr. Winner." Fox took out her wallet to pay for her candy. "You know you're safer at home, so you might as well go." She looked away because she could tell from his face she had hurt his feelings for being so harsh. **_He's too soft nothing but a big baby..._** "And call me Fox!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Fox; I promised I'd keep an eye on you and that's what I intent to do," Quatre said standing his ground.

"I can take care of myself! I don't need you guys keeping tabs on me!" Fox growled at Quatre, "I only put up with you because you're friends with my brother." As soon as the words escaped her lips she regretted it. She grabs the candy and turned away from him. **_Sorry Quatre, but you guys are closer to me then you think and I can't have that... no one else is going to die because they protected me._**

Quatre watched her as she walks away. **_I'm not giving up that easily. She's just trying to seem heartless and she's doing a good job of it right now._** Quatre took in a deep breath before following her again. **_I know I'm going to regret this._** Fox turned around obviously not happy.

"That's it I can't take it anymore! I'm giving you one more chance to quit following!"

"Only when you quit action hardheaded and heartless," Fox scowled at Quatre.

"For one, you don't know what I've been through and another thing-"

"But that doesn't mean you have to treat people like dirt, Fox."

"From what I've seen, your friend is right, Foxy," said the store clerk.

"And who asked you," Fox said upset to be interrupted.

"Well, what would your father say if he saw the way you were treating this young man," the clerk said stopping Fox at the center of the store.

**_How does he know about my father?_** She turned suddenly when she hears the cock of a gun. She pushed Quatre out of the way as the clerk's bullet blast off her hat just missing her head. Her unbraided hair falls to her back and sides as she hides behind a shelf. She slowly looked up.

"You've gotten faster. You probably don't remember me since you were only one," he said moving closer to the shelf where Fox was hiding when he remembered Quatre. "Come on out Fox or you won't have another agreement with your little friend her!" She moved in plain sight and stood up a few feet away from the shelf.

"Sophia, don't do this, just go," Quatre says now back on his feet. With his gun still pointed a Quatre the clerk walks up to Fox.

"Just... let Quatre go... and I'll go quietly." A gun shot rang in the air surprising everyone. The bullet entered and exited her arm and then entered the store clerk's stomach. She clutched her arm in pain as the clerk drops his gun a few feet from Sophia. Quatre ran to Fox's side when she tried to reach for the gun seeing the man at the store entrance with the gun aimed for her.

"I got you where I want you," he pointed the gun at her when she got the gun and fired. She turned too late to move or fire the gun, but Quatre moved in front of her taking the bullet for her. He fell on top of her, and because she didn't have her left arm she went down with him. She felt Quatre's warm blood spread on her clothes which enrages her**_. If I can only get my right arm in position... _**

"Sorry, Ox, but I'm getting credit for the elimination of Fox. The rat made it first as all ways," he walked to Sophia and Quatre.

"More like sewer rat!" Sophia said as she shoots him after managing to move her right hand from under Quatre. He fell down dead after being shot twice. Somehow, she managed to slide halfway from under Quatre. **_Oh no, Quatre... this is... all... my fault._** Her eyes began to water. **_This is what my vision meant. I knew I should have stayed home today, but if I didn't..._**

"Ah!" Quatre moans breathing fast. She took off her jacket and Quatre's shirt ignoring the pain of her left arm.

"Oh my God, Quatre! What happened? Never mind, get him on the table," Niko said as Sophia moves to the table then gently lies him on the table. He let out a holler of pain. "That bullet hole looks really close to a lung."

"I hear you've been working on an invention. Have you tested it yet?"

"...you mean use it of Quatre. It might be risky. Last time it melted the mouse I used."

"Haven't you tested it since the last time I mortified it..."

"How long is the process?" Niko looks at her for a moment, "A few seconds."

"Test it on me first," she said showing Niko her left arm.

"Fine, but it's for your while body not just for a limb or two."

"Even better," Sophia said as Niko takes out her invention which looked like a giant waffle iron. Niko notices she showed a glimpse of uneasiness.

"If you're scared we can always do Quatre first."

"I'm not scared." She said quickly jumping in. Now I know how meat feels in a sandwich.

"Ready?"

"My head is the only thing I can move because it's the only thing left outside this thing. "What do you think?" Suddenly she felt extreme heat for what seemed like an hour before Niko finally reopened her contraption. Sophia stepped out. The cold air froze her, but she ignore it. She moved her left arm around.

"You look good," she said looking at some paper, "From what the chart says, Sophia. You had a few semi cracked ribs bedsides the bullet holes."

"Oh, that must have been when I fell from the trapeze." Niko looked at Sophia a little weird.

"I'm... not even going to ask. Let's just hope there aren't any side effects." She looked up suddenly from checking out her arm worried as Niko walks over to the table where Quatre lies. "Side effects; what side effects?" Sophia asked.

"Remember Quatre, Sophia," Niko said snapping Sophia back to her serious self, he's lost a lot of blood, so we need to hurry." They carry him over to the machine and put him inside. "Quatre, this is going to feel really hot."

**_And why couldn't she have told me that. _**When Niko starts it Quatre lets out a horrible scream that made Sophia's blood run cold. **_This is... all... my fault. _**She closed her eyes she turns away to stop herself from crying.

**_Where am I?_** Quatre opened his eyes and squint because of the bright light. He shielded his eyes and then he noticed his different clothing. "Huh," he sat up and jumped to his feet when a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him causing him to stumble, but when he tried to catch himself on the table his hand slips. Two hands catch him before he hit the floor. Her familiar glowing bright deep blue eyes, "Sophia, what happened?"

**_It seems Niko's little invention worked..._**

"Your arm, Sophia; are you ok?"

**_How can he still be thinking about me after all of that?_** She lowered her head a little ashamed losing eye contact with him. "How do you think I was able to catch you silly? It was just a dream. Now go to sleep." She helped him up and they start climbing the stairs. He noticed something's wrong by how her shaky voice, but instead of asking he places his hand on her back. **_Though she said it was a dream I know she's lying to me. She blames herself what happened to me... I have to make her see it's not her fault._** They reach another door at the top of the stares. "Whose idea was it to put Sandrock's face on these pajamas?" he asked curious as well as getting her to talk.

"Mine... I made it," Sophia said as they enter the kitchen, "Um, if you're hungry. You can get something since... you know."

"No thank you, Sophia," they exit the kitchen and enter Sophia's master bedroom. She walked him to the king sized bed and she goes to her dresser, "Where are you going to sleep?" he sees that her shoulders are tense as she looks at herself in the mirror.

Flash

Sophia took Quatre's bloody clothes with hers and stuck them in the washing machine with bleach. **_I hope those blood stains come out or I'm going to have to do some explaining. _** Niko walked up to Sophia. "How is he?"

"He's out, but ok," she looked at Sophia straight in the eye, "Ok Sophia, what did you do this time!"

Flash

_**What's wrong with me anyway?**_

Flash

"Try not action like a spoiled brat and then we'll see," Wufei answered harshly.

Flash

_**Why does... he have to be so nice?**_

Flash

"Only when you quit action hardheaded and heartless!" Quatre's face looked at her sternly.

Flash

"Heartless! ...You're heartless, Sophia!" She tried to block out the voices in her head. "Heartless! All you care about is yourself! You're better off dead!" Tears stream down her face, so she closed her eyes and out of frustration knocks down everything off her dresser with one swoop on the hand. She fell to her knees. A hand on her only makes her shake.

"I told you to go to bed," she said shrugging him off.

"I'm not leaving you."

"I don't wan you to see me like this. I look pitiful!" She headed for the bathroom, but before she could close the door he pushes the door open and gets inside.

"Sophia," she tries to reopen the door, but Quatre pushes it close, "Sophia, listen to me. How long are you going to keep running from the truth? Understand, not everything is your fault. You can't blame yourself for the actions of others." He then wiped the tears from her face, "I hate to see you like this."

"I don't need or deserve your kindness, Quatre. I know you're only being nice to me because of Wufei, She said aggressively, but her voice was shaky as she said it. "What did he tell you anyway? That I'm wallowing in self pity! That I blame myself for everything bad that has happened to everyone I care about because I came too late since I was saving someone else." Tears stream down her face.

"Sophia, understand you can't blame yourself." She again shrugged off his arm as he tried to comfort her. This time he didn't stop her as she exited the bathroom. "What about Wufei? He didn't tell me anything."

"Why do you put up with me, Quatre? I've been nothing, but horrible to you since you came here," she said changing the subject.

"Well you have to when you love someone... am I right." She looked at him. She then moves her eyes to the floor.

"I guess that explains why I haven't socked you one yet." She sat down on the bed next to him.

Flash

Quatre puts down his clip board and heads off. He enters a nearby elevator and sighs. **_It's just so quiet her without her making such a commotion. I'm so use to her breaking something or her getting in trouble with Rashid. I ...didn't think I'd miss her this much._**

Flash

Quatre slid into the hot spring to relax**_. I don't understand why she had to get so angry. I was just trying to help... she started to have bad dreams, but she refuses to talk to someone._** He sighed. He looked up at the crescent moon for a moment before he looked at the water and noticed bubbles coming up from the hot spring. **_That's strange._** Suddenly a figure with glowing bright blue eyes emerged from the water.

"Quatre!" he gasped and quickly jerked back in surprise and fright. Before he could move again the figure lunged at him pinning him to the smooth rocks at the edge of the hot spring. **_He's dead if he tries anything_**. Quatre breaths heavily with fright as the figure covered his mouth before he could utter another sound. "What are you doing here?"

**_Wait, that voice sounds familiar._** "I'm going to take my hand away, but if you say anything to attract anyone's attention I'll kill you myself hindering the Osprey's chance to do it themselves."

"Sophia?" he said with surprise and relief as she removed her hand, "Your eye are-"

"I'm nocturnal, that's why I can't get up easily in the mornings.... and why are you here anyway?"

"I'm sorry; I'll just go," he started to get out when she pulled him back deeper in the hot spring. "Sophia-"

"Don't you Sophia me, Quatre!" he looked at her confused. "You know for a fact if you leave now they'll suspect something and you'll blab everything. I'll get caught and have to start this bet all over again." She stopped and looked annoyed at him, "And I'd have to look at your stupid puppy dog eyes for another week."

**_Puppy dog eyes?_** He looked at her confused.

"Yes, puppy dog eyes; I don't like dogs," she said as though reading his mind. "Big cats are my thing anyway. You're staying only 30 minutes; you hear me."

"I can wait," he looked into her eyes in wonder, "They look almost navy blue."

"Huh?"

"Your eyes."

"If you don't like then you can always turn away, Quatre," she said her eyes pretty much the only thing you can see on her face.

"No, I don't think they're bad at all. I..." his voice became kind and warm, "think they look very beautiful and mysterious. I've never seen eyes like that before on a person before."

"Really?" She looked down her voice soft and shy, "Thank you Quatre... no one's ever... said that to me before besides my father." She looked into Quatre's blue green eyes. **_He looks better when he's not sad. Maybe I should be more nice... _** She moved a littler closer to him and gave him one of her famous smirks, "I really scared you, huh."

"Yes, I'd have to say you really did," he said now able to make out the details of her face.

"I guess I owe you an apology for being, so rude to you... since you came here. I was just mad that you tricked me a second time, that's all."

"No I owe you an apology for taking Wing Zero. You were right I wasn't ready to pilot a suit that powerful. I should have listened to you."

"Well, you weren't thinking straight because the murder of your father," she said sadly, "... I can relate to your pain." They look into each other's eyes the two only a foot away. Quatre takes his hand and moves a piece of wet curly hair from her face. His hand grazes her face sending a shock through her system again, but this time she felt the warmth of hi hand like the welcoming heat of a campfire. They look at each other as tough hypnotized by each other's gaze and move closer. He places his warm hand on the side of her face which was greeted by her own. She closes her eyes as though enjoying a fragrance. She slowly opens her eyes in time to see his face draw closer. **_His hand is so warm like his eyes. _**Her heart begins to race.**_ He's going to kiss me..._**

zoom

Quatre running trying to get closer, but the more he runs to her the farther he is. BANG! He falls to the ground after being shot in the chest.

zoom

**_Quatre! – stop! What am I doing?_** Her eyes grew larger before pulling away her heart raced faster, but this time with fear. She breathed heavily.

"Sophia, what's wrong? You look... so pale," he said with concern. **_Maybe I scared her. Wufei said she afraid to get too close..._**

She just shook her head in reply looking down and hugs herself. **_What was I thinking! I can't fall in love especially not with Quatre._**

**_I should go. _**He moved toward the edge of the hot spring after passing by Sophia a bit disappointed he didn't get to kiss her. "Goon night, Sophia," she looked up as he says good night. As if on impulse she goes after Quatre and touches his shoulder stopping him.

"Quatre wait." He turned to face her.

"Yes, Sophia," he noticed her shaky hand. **_Why is she..._** Sophia tried to say something, but the sound seemed to be stuck in her throat making her upset. "Sophia, what's wrong?" Suddenly she started to shake violently. He moved closer and holds her close to him.

**_What's the matter with me? I shouldn't even be in his arms. _**She tried to pull free for the few seconds, but when she realized he wasn't going to force her to stay in his arms she went back welcoming his warm embrace. **_But I feel so safe here._**

**_She seems so unsure about people._** Sophia's shaking stopped as quickly as it began.

"I don't want to be alone," she said which surprised him because her voice sounded so small and not the serious, slightly shy voice she usually had since he had arrived there. "Too many people protect me and pay with their lives. Wufei, Shimi, and the scientists are the only family I have left. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to them. I feel so... useless, Quatre; I'm always the one being rescued."

**_Now I understand... wait!_** "Please forgive me, Sophia. I never thanked you for saving my life so many times before." She looked into his eyes. "It was you who saved me at the inn, from Hiyami and cared for not just me, but everyone who nearly died from Cobra's deadly virus. Was it not you who knew what to do, Sophia?" Her face relaxed as she looked at him then she rests her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him listening to his heart beat. **_I know how she feels, but what have I done besides correct my own mistakes?_** They both look up at the crescent moon lit night.

Flash

Sophia sighs before noticing the guys eating lunch. They notice her as she walks up to them. Abdul instantly stands seeing her his face not approving of her being there.

"And what do you want?" he asks annoyed, "Haven't you done enough harm to Master Quatre?" Afmahd and Auda both stand in agreement with him.

"..." she takes a step back bumping into Rashid behind her.

"Good Morning, Sophia; are you staying for lunch?"

"...No thank you... I'm not hungry," she says softly. He watches her as she hurries to the street corner. **_I guess I deserve that for being so crewel to Quatre... I better make sure not a single trace of me is left._**


	28. Kidnapped

Disclaimer: Tell me what you think, or I will cry. Please R&R.

Gundam Wing Episode 28

Kidnapped

6:30p.m.

Sophia opens the dresser drawer and carefully places her clothes in her suitcase to fill it completely. When she was done with that, she goes to the closet. It was packed with clothes. **_I don't remember bringing these here._**

"Shimi sent those for you," she jumps. She looks over at Quatre at the door. "I could smell you as I passed by the door." He says softly walking in. "Did… you just come to take all you clothes?"

"Yes, Quatre, I did," there's a moment of before he says; "It hasn't been the same since you left… it's been too quiet."

"I know… I feel the same way," she says zipping up her suitcase. Looking at her watch, she heads for the door. "But I feel I should leave before I get too attacked to you."

"Is that so bad?" he says sadly as she enters the hallway. He stops her at the corner. "Is there anything that will change your mind?"

"No Quatre nothing," she turns the corner.

"I miss you, Sophia," he whispers softly to himself knowing if he said it too loud he would be forcing her to stay. He sadly turns away, heading to his office.

**_I'll send Shimi to pick up the rest of my stuff._** The front door opens as she reaches the key rack. She tries to ignore Abdul's untrusting stair as she reaches for her keys. Auda grabs the keys off the rack before she could.

"Look what I found," he taunts Sophia waving the keys out of her reach. "I don't remember seeing these here before. What do you think Afmahd?" Auda throws the keys to him.

"No, I haven't seen these before," Afmahd says playing along.

"Can I have my keys back, please?" she says softly. The two toss the keys back and forth playing monkey in the middle. "Come on guys. I don't have time to play now." Annoyed she jabs Auda in the stomach, but before she could catch them Rashid snatches them in midair over her head.

"Goofing off again I see," he says sternly. "For a moment I saw that Tikki spark back in your eyes."

"Tikki's…" she takes the keys from Rashid, "not real. I um… made him up."

"Won't you consider staying? Quatre will be overjoyed if you stayed besides we could use the extra help around here."

"No… I, I can't stay."

"I know you love him, Sophia," he says stopping her at the door, "or else why would you have come back?"

"To pick up my clothes, Rashid… that's all."

"Sophia, wait!" Quatre calls as he hurries down the stairs.

"Quatre! You know I can't stay."

"I know, but I want to give you something." He shows her two boxes long silver and a small black box. She puts down her suitcase and opens the long box first. The yellow topaz reflexes off her eyes.

"…it's my birthstone." She feels the diamonds around the center stone almost in awe. She resists the urge to take the necklace out if it's case. "But I can't take it."

"No, I want you to have it and I won't force you to stay, but I want you to come back." He watches her open the smaller box. Her eyes grow wide seeing the engagement ring. "Will you come back to me?" he says softly.

"Yes… I'll come back," she says with a smile. She turns heading back up the stairs with her suitcase. "You can help if you want, Quatre." His face lights up before he goes to help her.

Jeff leads Relena through the front door. The living room is enormous. It leads to a small hallway and lined on each side is a handful of doors ending in a nearby kitchen. In the back of the living room is a sliding glass door. The visible backyard begins after the hot spring. Trees also line the fence around the yard.

"You can take a dip in the hot spring if you want," Jeff says as he goes back outside to retrieve the rest of the suitcases. She decides to go out back to admire the scenery.

"Hello Relena; how long is your stay going to be?" Relena looks up to see Dr. J watching her on the other side of the hot spring.

"Dr. J?"

"Yes my dear, I'm alive and well thanks to the niece of one of my friends." He moves closer to her for better communication. "I'm glad to see you're happy with your new boyfriend." The comment stops Jeff in his tracks ruining his surprise attack on pushing her into the hot spring.

"You are mistaken."

"We're… just friends," he says.

"For now anyway." Jeff blushes hearing this.

"Of course it has to be when my jobs over. It's um not good to mix business with pleasure."

"Oh is that what they call it now?" she says taking one last look into the hot spring before walking away.

The door closes after the passenger enters the back of the limo. Putting on his seatbelt, he rolls down the window. He then sniffs the air catching a familiar sent from long ago.

"Do you remember that sent?" The burly man adjusts the mirror. His hazel eyes glow as he looks at man in the seat behind him. "She's close, very close." He then starts the car. "Do follow the sent to the best of your abilities."

"Yes, Master Li."

_**I'm closer then you think, Sophia!**_

Sophia fiddles with the engagement ring on her finger admiring the diamonds. She couldn't help but smile as she gazed upon it.

Flash

Heero sits at the counter thinking about a dream he had last night. He stares into his bowl of ice cream and plays with it with his spoon. He concentrates his ice cream, but then stops a moment as Daga enters the room.

Heero starts on his ice cream pretending not to notice Daga. Daga gets him in a head lock. "Quit acting like a baby and tell me." When she didn't get her answer and got a face full of ice cream, she kicks the chair from under him and letting go of him. He falls on his back. "Fine be that way." Half satisfied she walks away, but she didn't get too far. He grabs her ankle and with his foot trips her. Sitting up he pulls her toward him.

Daga punches him in the gut and slams him into the side of the counter. Heero jumps on top of her and after a little wrestle he pins her down sitting on her stomach. They both breathe heavily. Realizing she did this on purpose to get him to let off some steam, he smiles at her, a naughty boy kind of smile as he leans down to kiss her. "I'll tell you later."

"Hellloooo," Heero looks up, for he knew that voice. "Spitfire, I know I saw you come in here." He gets off Daga and they both sit at the counter as though nothing happened. Sophia sits across from Heero after opening a can of Coca Cola. She rests her head in her hands. "What were _you_ two doing?"

"Leave them alone." Wufei sits down next to her with a can of soda. "You're too young to understand." He takes a gulp of his soda.

"No I'm not! I just turned 18 and plus I think they're a cute couple." She looks up at her twin. "When are you going to propose to Sally, anyway?"

"I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what"

"Her birthday, I thought it'd be a good surprise." He takes another drink of his soda. "You're going to help me, right."

"Help you with what?" Sophia looks at him confused.

"Pick out a ring for her." Sophia's eyes light up. "I know if I take you with me I'll get my money's worth."

Sophia smiles at her brother. "Well then you better hurry and get married because I want to be an aunty."

"Hum, I'm a little hesitant now."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure if I want you near my kids. You might do more damage then good." He smiles. "And when are you going to find a man of your own?"

"Not this again. I'm not going to look to settle down until all of Osprey is taken down." She smirks, "besides there is no man that can tame the Fox. I'm too wild and you know it. I'd probably end up driving the poor man crazy."

"What about… Quatre?" he says playfully. "He's the only one that seems to be ably to put up with you, has all his hair, and still hasn't committed suicide."

"Friends… we are only friends, Wufei." Sophia turns her attention back to Heero and looks into his eyes. "Do-You-Like-Daga, Heero?"

"No" Daga looks at Heero surprised and hurt. Sophia gasps slamming her hands on the table.

"Then you love, her" He diverts his eyes away. "Heero… Heero… you love her. You love her. You love her. You love her. You love her. You love her… Is the Perfect Soldier afraid to say I love you?"

Heero looks up at her in surprise blushing. **_Am I … blushing?_** He glances at Daga and who was almost beaming. **_How is it that she can always do that to me?_** Sophia pinches his cheek bringing him back. She laughs a familiar laugh from long ago. "You were-"

"The one who helped trained you, I'm glad you figured it out finally." She gets up and goes to the fridge. Taking out a big bucket of ice cream from the freezer and takes four big bowls takes it to the counter. "Who wants ice cream?"

"I already had some," Heero says watching her.

"So, it's just me and you Daga."

"… and what about me?" Wufei asks his sister his voice serious, but his face playful.

"What are you talking about two bowl are for me. You get nothing and like it."

Sophia digs her hands in the ice cream shoveling it out into the bowls. "What are you doing, Sophia?" Daga looks at her strangely.

"Making ice cream snowmen… what my hands are clean."

Wufei puts down his empty soda can and leans on his sister's shoulder. "Remember who bought that ice cream for you." He says smugly.

"No, Daga doesn't want any so it's all mine" she says in a baby voice. Heero and Daga watch listening quietly. It was fun to see the way Wufei acted around his little sister.

"When you want something later on, don't cry to me."

"Oh, but I don't wanna."

"What would your father say if he saw you being this greedy?" he coaxed with his eyes closed. She puts up her face up then looking down at him a sinister grin forms on her face. She grabs two handfuls of ice cream and slams it in his face. Wufei jumps up.

"Why you little" angrily he grabs a handful and chunks it at her. It goes down her shirt.

"AAhhh! That's cold you jerk," she pulls it out and throws it back at him which he dodges.

"Maybe that will teach you not to wear big shirts" he says laughing at her. "… Wait a minute that's my shirt!" They both glare at each other after taking a bowl of ice cream. Sophia sticks her tong out at him and as though that was a signal they throw ice cream at each other.

Daga looks at the last two bowls of ice cream and slowly slides one her way. "You know you had me worried there Heero." As he looks over he gets a face full of ice cream. He removes the ice cream from his eyes and looks at her. He smirk forms on his face as he grabs the last bowl.

Just then, Sally, Trowa, and Shimi walk in. Shimi holds two more buckets of ice cream then hands one to Trowa. They look startled at the sight ice cream flying and their vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate covered allies. Shimi catches a ball of ice cream before it hit Sally's face. She eats it. "Hey, strawberry"

"What's going on here?" Sally says stopping the commotion.

"He started it" Sophia says pointing at Wufei.

"No, I didn't."

"Wufei, you look like a sundae." She laughs at him. He looks at Sally embarrassed. "I have to say I wasn't expecting to see you in this."

"Yeah, but there's just something about Sophia that makes you want to throw something at her."

"What happened here?" Niko asks coming in through the other door seeing the mess.

"It's called Ice Cream Ball Fight and I brought reinforcement! Guys against girls!" Shimi yells in excitement. They split up on opposite sides of the room and the fight starts again.

Just then Duo walks and had the misfortune of getting bumbled with ice cream balls. "HEEYYY!" Duo stands shivering. He looks at his clothes. "I just got this dry cleaned."

"Sorry, Duo we got caught up in the moment," Sophia apologizes.

He looks around. "Your all playing, huh… so which side am I on."

"Guys side."

"Ok, give me some of that ice cream, Heero," they start again until Quatre walks in.

"My kitchen or what's left of it." He says totally stunned. "Duo, Heero, Wufei, Trowa, even you Sally."

"Um… Quatre's clean!" Sophia yells and they drench him with ice cream until there was none left that they could scrape off the floor.

"Sophia," Quatre says looking at his clothes and his kitchen.

"What! I didn't throw a single ice cream ball at you."

"I know," he sighs flinging off some of the ice cream, "But I just have this feeling that you started it."

Flash

Sophia smiles at the memory.

"Hey Sophia, are you coming or not?" Duo calls as he places a blood hound puppy on the ground. He throws a tennis ball to Sophia. "Trowa's found us a table!"

"I'll be there don't worry," she says bouncing the ball to get the puppy, she throws the ball in the air and catches it. She continues this as she follows him. They pass an alley when she misses the ball. She quickly goes after it and catches it after several tries. The puppy leaps from her arm frustrating her. "Ah, come on!" She goes after the puppy. "This is why I hate dogs," Sophia lets her eyes adjust to the dark of the alley. "There you are," but before she could pick up the puppy a sent from long ago fills her nose.

"Your eyes are still as beautiful as I remember."

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want, Sophia. Just come with me," he says coming closer. She glares at him before she punches him in the face. He stares at her stunned a moment. His face then turns to anger.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"You still have that rebellious attitude I see." Like lightning he kicks her in the face. She crashes into the nearby garbage cans. She manages to shake it off in time to block the second kick. "You're a bit rusty."

"I'm not as rusty as you think, Li," Sophia says standing up. "And I can't forgive you for what you've done to me and my family!" He looks at her his face dull.

"So… you know."

"Of course I know and I hate you for what you've done!" Sophia says coldly.

"It wasn't supposed to happen that way," he says grabbing her wrists. "I promise you that much. It was an accident Sophia." He was about to say more, but stops when he sees the ring on her finger. "Who gave you that ring?" She doesn't answer which makes him furious. "Tell me!" he yells as he slaps her. In return all he gets is a dirty look from her cold stare of her deep bright blue eyes.

"I never wanted to marry you," she growls coldly. She scratches him across the face. He staggers back giving her an equal cold stare.

"Fine then," he backs up stopping yards away from her. "We'll do this the hard way." He starts to change as he chares her. Bearing his fangs, he jumps on her. She throws him off of her into the wall behind her and quickly scrambles to her feet. She tries to find him, but it was no use. **_Where ever he is he could strike at any moment. _**The cries of the puppy made her jump. She slowly goes forward heading toward the puppy. Picking the puppy up, she heads from wince she came.

"Go and tell the others where I am, girl." **_What is this Lassie? _**After letting the puppy go, she feels a sharp pain in her as Li's fangs dig into her arm. "AH!" she punches him in the face. He disappears again, but it wasn't for long. She turns in time to see him leap at her.

"Sophia! Sophia, where are you!" She wouldn't just run off without a good reason… right? The more he thought about it the more worried he got.

"We'll find her," Wufei says heading off. **_This shouldn't take long…_** By the look on Wufei's face, Quatre could see he is even more worried then he is. Duo and Heero do the same. A strange feeling comes over him as he passes the alley, so he decides to go in and take a look.

"AAHHH!" He jumps when he hears the scream. His heart beats faster as he picks up his pace which soon results into a run. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as a wolf changes into a man wearing a black suit.

Dusting himself off he says, "You remember Kong from the hotel." Kong's hazel eyes glow at least three feet over Li's head. "Take her; I'll be waiting in the car." Kong cracks his knuckles before advancing toward her. Quatre manages to make it to Sophia before Kong.

"Sophia, are you ok?" she lay bruised and battered. He noticed the bit marks on her arm.

"We have to get out of here," she gasps seeing Kong. He grabs Quatre by the neck and slams him in the brick wall. "NO!" she cries as he starts to squeeze the life out of her fiancée. "Let him go!" She tries as the two of them try to release Kong's grip, but his grip only became tighter. She starts to panic seeing Quatre start to turn blue. "Please, let him go!" she cries, "I'll go quietly. I promise." She chokes on her tears as she continues. "Just let him go! Pleeese!" He looks into her pleading eyes. At the last moment, he releases Quatre. She goes to him. She's barely able to touch his face when Kong grabs her.

"No! Sophia!" Quatre chokes out seeing her pulled into the back seat. Getting to his feet he chases after the car as it drives away. "SOPHIA!"


	29. Rescue I

Disclaimer: This is the second to last chapter people, so tell me what you think! Thank you for your time, please read and review.

Gundam Wing Episode 29

Rescue I

11:30p.m.

The door to a cell door opens slowly shedding light on the prisoner inside. The chains on her arms and legs weigh her down as she sits on her knees. Her glowing deep blue eyes match her Chinese dress she has on as she looks up. Her hair falls limp at her sides and back.

"So, we meet again, Sophia," says a familiar voice. Seeing Mooshi's face turns her ghastly white, but for only a moment before anger sets in.

"I thought you were dead." She starts to stand up, but the chains stop her midway.

"You thought I was…" Mooshi gives an evil smile. "You absurd girl, I was the one who tripped OZ off about 05 being at the colony in the first place, but I was hoping you went with it when the colony blew." Mooshi walks closer to her. She keeps a close eye on Sophia even though Mooshi's accompanied by two other guards. Each has her own collar.

"You killed innocent people for your hatred of me!" she yells in her face. "You dirty snake!" Mooshi slaps her in the face.

"You're the one who killed those people not me! …if you would have just lie down and died this wouldn't have happened. It's because of you that I can't inherit your father's business."

"You mean this was all for-"

"Money, of course it was you idiot! You're father's business is the backbone of all the businesses in the world and outer space. It's only second to the Winner family business." Suddenly Li enters followed by his twin.

"When does she start? I want to be the first to fly a gundam," Pipe says with enthusiasm.

"Who says I'm making anything?"

"Oh you'll do it all right," she says taking out a collar. "I had this one made especially for you." Sophia growls at her as she comes closer.

"You wouldn't dare," she says coldly, "You won't get close enough to me again that's for sure.

"Who said I was the one who was going to do it," Mooshi says as Li steps up only Sophia soon realizes it isn't him at all. She watches in terror as he changes to the giant snake. She gasps as he approaches her.

"Cobra…" Sophia manages to stand, but is only able to take a step back as he wrapped around her the chains confining her to the spot she's sitting. "No… he can't be still-"

"Alive, of course Sophia," Pipe says calmly.

_**No, it can't be…**_

Flash

"NO!" Sophia screamed when she saw Quatre start to get sucked out along with the snake. She leaped down changing into her animal form to pick up speed only to change back. She grabbed his hand as the two slid out. Sophia and Quatre look like flags in the wind as she dug her claws into the edge of the hanger door.

Flash

_**I saw him fly out.**_

"Grandfather can change into anything he wants."

**_Grandfather?_** "AHH!" The chains dig into her flesh.

"Mr. Winner, is there a problem?"

"Hum?" looking up a woman with black hair and brown eyes whose stare knocks him out of his thoughts. "My apologies, Ms. Lan, …I've has a lot on my mind recently."

"If you want, we can take a brake."

"No, that's ok; I'm fine."

"Would you like some tea?" a maid asks suddenly startling him.

"Yes, thank you," he says looking into the chocolate brown eyes he remembered so well. Jumping up he says in surprise, "Sophia, you're ok."

"Um… yes, I'm fine," she says somewhat shaken. "How… did you know my name?" He is shocked by her answer, but a hand on his shoulder tells him to keep himself under control.

"I think it's best if we take a brake," Rashid says removing Quatre from the stares of the others in the rest of the room. "There are probably hundreds of girls that look like Sophia," he whispers to him when they were finally outside.

"That's her, Rashid, I know it."

"Maybe this is what she had to leave for?"

"No, I saw her kidnapped with my own eyes," Quatre's voice quivers a bit as he continues. "Who knows what they have done to her? …I have to find out what it is." Quatre then takes off down the hall.

"Master Quatre!"

"I promise I'll be back!" Quatre calls back before turning the corner. **_She acted as thought she didn't know me. _**He crashes into Sophia as she comes out of a nearby room. She drops the tray. Its contents shatter on the ground bringing a wave of scolding tea all over Quatre.

"You clumsy little fool!" Ms. Lan comes out furious and then says coldly, "Clean that up." Sophia quickly scrambles to pick up the pieces. Ms. Lan takes out a whip not noticing Quatre. Sophia cringes as she cracks the whip on the floor.

"Do you always intimidate your maid with a whip?" Quatre asks suddenly getting her attention. He then kneels to help. Ms. Lan quickly hides the whip behind her back even though it was too late.

"Mr. Winner, I thought you were on brake." She then notices his clothes, "Your clothes are-"

"It was just an accident." Sophia looks quickly to the floor when Quatre makes eye contact with her. Still feeling his eyes on her she beams from embarrassment.

"Sophia, get Mr. Winner some new clothes." The frightened girl jumps to her feet. "NOW!" She turns running down the hall. Ms. Lan fake laughs. "She's so clumsy. A little fear doesn't hurt anyone."

"Have you heard the saying 'Live by the sword, Die by the sword'?" he asks picking up the tray after placing the broken dishes on it.

"Yes."

"Take that into consideration next time you whip an innocent girl." He hands her the tray before heading down the hallway in which Sophia went. He ignores the cold, icy stare of Ms. Lan on his back. Sophia comes bursting out of a nearby room carrying his new clothes.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Winner," she hands him the clothes.

"I'm sure it was just an accident," he says kindly, "Nobody's perfect. Even I make mistakes." He then enters the room.

"You can change over there," she says pointing to what looked like a wall placed in the middle of the room. "I can take you clothes."

"She hasn't been beating you long, has she?" He starts to change his clothes.

"Only when I mess up," she says softly.

"I'm glad to see you're still wearing the ring I gave you."

"…You …were the one who gave this to me?" she asks confused picking up his soiled clothes.

"Of course I did." He looks at her closely. Dropping the clothes he places his hands on her shoulders frightening her. "Do you remember me?"

"You're Quatre Raberba Winner a wealthy business man and our best customer for my business."

"No, I mean do you remember the time _we_ spent together."

"…This is the first time we were ever alone with each other in the same room."

**_What did they do to you, Sophia?_** "Please Sophia try to remember something. We're supposed to be married in December." The smell of fear was so strong in the room he could almost taste it as he releases her. **_How can she not remember me?_** "I need you to come with me… I promise I won't hurt you."

"Filling her head with lies, Mr. Winner," the two look up to see a dark brown haired man with familiar icy blue eyes.

"Mr. Lowe, when did you arrive?"

"When I found out someone started getting too nosey. We can't have our owner running off now can we?" He draws his gun pointing it at Quatre.

"No, please! Don't shot him," she says stepping in front of him. "I'll take care of this I promise."

"Really?" he looks at her suspiciously.

"I'm the maid remember."

"…I'll leave it to you then." Mr. Lowe hands her the gun and she unwillingly takes it. "You know what to do."


	30. Rescue II

Gundam Wing Episode 30

Rescue II

11:50p.m.

A long brown braid dangles as a tile is moved from its place. The tile's remover looks in the room.

"Is he in there?" Two deep blue eyes glow inside the vent as his partner continues to look.

"I don't see one sign of Quatre or Sophia," he says pulling in his pony tail and places the tile back in its place.

"They're in the next room."

"How do you know?" he looks a bit confused as his partner passes by him in the vent. "Wufei wait!" he whispers grasps the fact that he was going quickly down to the next room. After removing the tile to the next room he drops down. "Coast is clear, Duo."

"Who are you and what are you doing here!" Sophia holds the two at gun point until she sees Wufei. She gasps. "Wufei!" he takes the gun from her as she hugs him. "Oh, where were you all this time?"

"Looking for you, I've missed my little sister."

"Huh?" Hearing her response, he instantly knew something was wrong.

Sophia I know you're in there. After a few moments of silent, their eyes both turn the same deep bright blue. A sudden wind surrounds them. Their hair starts to levitate, and the rubber band breaks dispersing Wufei's hair straight up with Sophia's. Quatre enters the room as the caller starts to show when it shot circuit. A wave of flames engulfs it as the two stare in awe. The wild slows then instantly dissipates. The siblings' hair finally falls to their sides.

"Sophia." She turns and smiles at him.

"Are you crazy!" she shouts at him angrily startling him. "You know better then to go off by yourself!"

"Then it is true." Ms. Lan enters with Li and Pip. "You two really do have a physic link."

"Physics?"

"You mean you didn't tell them." Her thick black long coat covers her body like a sheet. He doesn't make eye contact with her.

"Leave him alone!"

"Sophia NO!" Wufei yells, but it was too late. She was already on the offensive. "That's not her!" His voice comes out exhausted. What looked like Ms. Lan soon changed to a man. He slaps her away with his cane. She hits the ground hard. Quatre helps her up.

"Sophia, are you ok?"

"You seem… tired." He moves closer. "Hopefully this won't take longer then expected." He changes slowly into a giant black cobra. Quatre instantly recognizes his snake form. Sophia scoots back in terror further into Quatre's grasp. Cobra's body is twice the size of the perimeter of the room as he tries to strike her.

"Grandfather, NO!" Like lightning Cobra strikes and then changes back as fast as he could. Taking a step forward he falls to his knees beside the body of his grandson.

"Li," he carefully picks him up and then notices the collar around his neck. "How did you get one of these? They weren't meant for you."

"Don't hurt her… please."

"Tell me; who did this to you?"

"I tried to tell you, but she wouldn't let me."

"She-?" He looks at Pip as he walks up to him who strikes him with his own cane he had used earlier. "AAHHH!" He strikes two more times his eyes blazing red before Duo finally stops him. He then rips it from Pip's hands. "Can't you see he's unconscious?"

"Stop this! He's your own grandfather!"

"He's just doing what he's told, that's all."

"So you're behind this Ms. Lan." Quatre says helping Sophia to her feet.

"It's Mrs. Lowe now Mr. Winner. I got married not too long ago." She shows her whip again. "This will be the best time to get rid of you Sophia, so I can own this business of yours." She strikes the whip once on the floor before striking. Unfortunately, it wraps around the arm of the wrong person. "Li, you idiot! Move out of the way!"

"You're wrong mother. Maverick had a son and he's alive."

"What?"

"He's right over there," he says pointing at Duo. Duo just stands there stunned. She scowls at Li fury escalation in her eyes.

"…NO! You are not going to take this victory from me!" she yells pressing a button on the handle. An electrical shock runs through his entire body. He falls to the ground and lies still.

"You dark hearted SNAKE!" Sophia yells; Wufei throws her his sword. The two metals clang together. Pushing hard Mrs. Lowe drops the whip. She backs up in fear. Sophia looks at her hard. "I'm not going to sink to your filthy level." Her eyes meet with Quatre. "I learned that from a wise man." She drops the sword and walks away. "I'm tired of fighting," she says softly, but as soon as she has her guard down Mrs. Lowe grabs the sword off the floor and charged.

"Sophia, look out!"

"Then I'll kill you both!" Mrs. Lowe yells. The sword stops in mid air. She turns to see Pip. His cold eyes gauges fear on her face. He presses the button as the lights go out in the entire facility.

Quatre fixes the blow one last time on his tuxedo. He wanted to look perfect. He looks again in the mirror. Heero stand watching him at the door.

"You look fine," Heero says calmly.

"Thank you, Heero."

"No need to thank me; Sophia's waiting."

"I guess I'm just nervous." Heero stays in the doorway.

"You don't want to be late for your own wedding." Heero then leaves the room. Placing on white gloves to match his tuxedo, he leaves the room.

Quatre stands in his rightful place as he waits for his bride. Trowa also wearing a similar tuxedo does the same. Sophia and Shimi decided on a double wedding. Sophia's uncle and Shimi's father gave them away. Duo had the honor of being the ring bearer; Catherine and Hilde were maids of honor; and Noin, Daga, Thumper, and Niko were flower girls. Other family and friends also came and waited as the priest did his job. Shimi stands next to Trowa wearing a traditional white wedding dress with matching gloves. Sophia stands next to Quatre wearing a light purple wedding dress with matching gloves; a blue dragon was sewn on the front of her dress above the waist spiraling upward. Its head stops on her left shoulder. The four say their vows to one another and end the ceremony with a kiss.

"They look very happy together grandfather," Li says watching Sophia and Quatre dance at the reception. "I wish that I can be happy for her… but I can't. I lost my chance with her," he states sadly looking at his bandaged arm.

"Just think of it as you found a family you never knew you had." Li watches his grandfather as he stands. "Don't take it so hard; you're still close. …if you'd look behind you you'd see someone of interest." Disappointment fills his eyes when he didn't see Sophia. One of the maids of honor walks past. "Excuse me miss," he calls stopping her, "My grandson's too shy, but would you mind dancing with him?"

"Grandfather!" Li blushes.

"I'd love to," she says taking his hand.

"Thank you very much miss…?"

"Hilde Schbeiker and yours?"

"You can call me Xun Lan and this is my grandson Li Lan," he says before kissing her hand. She smiles at him before the two take off for the dance floor. Li's uneasy at first, but after a while he started to relax.

**_I think it's best if I go. _** Xun quietly leaves the reception. He smiles as the happy couples enter their vehicles to go to their honeymoon. **_I'll be back… I promise you that._**

_THE END_

**Disclaimer:** Sooo! What did you think! Tell me! Please!  o Well if no one tells me their appreciation then I'm just happy I finished it.


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